Find your path to J. William Gurley
58 people in our graph share verified history with J. William Gurley — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
About
J. William "Bill" Gurley began his career as a design engineer at Compaq Computer before moving to Wall Street, where he worked as an equity research analyst covering the personal computer sector at Credit Suisse First Boston and later at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, contributing to the Amazon.com IPO. He entered venture capital in 1997 as a partner at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, then joined Benchmark Capital as a general partner in 1999, becoming the firm's longest-tenured partner before reducing his role in 2020. His investing approach centers on network effects, unit economics, and capital efficiency, and he has expressed skepticism toward inflated venture valuations. Gurley led or participated in early investments in companies including Uber, Zillow, OpenTable, Grubhub, and Stitch Fix, several of which reached successful IPOs or acquisitions. Benchmark's early Uber stake, in which he led an $11 million Series A investment in 2011, became one of venture capital's most notable returns. He also authors the Above the Crowd blog, offering commentary on technology business economics and venture funding.
Beyond investing
- Education
- Studied at University of Florida (BS, Computer Science, 1989) Studied at University of Texas at Austin's McCombs School of Business (MBA, Finance, 1993)
- Awards
- Gurley was named to the Institutional Investor All-American Research Team in 1995 and 1996.
- Family
- Gurley grew up in Dickinson, Texas; his father John Gurley was an early NASA employee at Langley Research Center and later the Manned Spacecraft Center. Gurley's mother, Lucia Gurley, worked as a substitute teacher, served 11 years on the Dickinson city council, and was named Citizen of the Year by the local Chamber of Commerce in 1994.
- More
- Gurley authors the Above the Crowd blog, offering data-driven commentary on high-technology business economics and venture funding. Gurley holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
From published sources — common ground for a warm intro.
Investments
Per curated public sources.
Colleagues at Benchmark
Frequently asked questions
- Who is J. William Gurley?
- J. William "Bill" Gurley began his career as a design engineer at Compaq Computer before moving to Wall Street, where he worked as an equity research analyst covering the personal computer sector at Credit Suisse First Boston and later at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, contributing to the Amazon.com IPO. He entered venture capital in 1997 as a partner at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, then joined Benchmark Capital as a general partner in 1999, becoming the firm's longest-tenured partner before reducing his role in 2020. His investing approach centers on network effects, unit economics, and capital efficiency, and he has expressed skepticism toward inflated venture valuations. Gurley led or participated in early investments in companies including Uber, Zillow, OpenTable, Grubhub, and Stitch Fix, several of which reached successful IPOs or acquisitions. Benchmark's early Uber stake, in which he led an $11 million Series A investment in 2011, became one of venture capital's most notable returns. He also authors the Above the Crowd blog, offering commentary on technology business economics and venture funding.
- Where does J. William Gurley work?
- J. William Gurley is General Partner at Benchmark.
- What boards does J. William Gurley sit on?
- J. William Gurley holds tracked board seats at Zillow, Zillow Group, Inc..
- What companies has J. William Gurley invested in?
- Investments tracked here include Grubhub, Uber, OpenTable, Stitch Fix.
- What awards has J. William Gurley received?
- Gurley was named to the Institutional Investor All-American Research Team in 1995 and 1996.
- Does J. William Gurley lead rounds?
- Yes — J. William Gurley has led 2 tracked investments.