Lylan Masterman
InvestorGeneral Partner at White Star Capital
New York, New York
Writes $1M – $7M checks · typically $4M
About
Lylan Masterman is co-founder and managing partner at Whipsmart Ventures, focusing on SpaceTech and DeepTech investments. He has been an investor since 2014, including as a general partner at White Star Capital, and serves as a board member and advisor to multiple startups and established firms. Previously, he spent 15 years in operating roles leading product and engineering organizations, including 4.5 years at aQuantive, which was acquired by Microsoft for $6.3 billion, as well as positions at Microsoft Research and on the .NET team. Masterman holds a computer science degree from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.
Experience
- Whipsmart VenturesCo-Founder and Managing Partnercurrent2026 — presentNew York City Metropolitan Area
- Self-employedBoard Member, Board Advisor, and VC/Angel Investorcurrent2021 — presentNew York, New York, United States
- Society of Kauffman FellowsVenture Capital Fellowcurrent2014 — present
- Raines International Inc.Board Advisor2020 — 2022
- White Star CapitalVenture Partner2020New York, New York, United States
- White Star CapitalGeneral Partner2018 — 2020New York City Metropolitan Area
- White Star CapitalPrincipal2014 — 2018New York City Metropolitan Area
- UnacastBoard Member2018 — 2020New York City Metropolitan Area
- SalesfloorBoard Member and Observer2016 — 2020Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- DiggBoard Member2016 — 2020New York, United States
- DropBoard Member and Observer2015 — 2020New York City Metropolitan Area
- MnuboBoard Observer2015 — 2018Greater Montreal Metropolitan Area
- IMMUNIOBoard Observer2016 — 2017Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- New York City startupsTechnology Executive2011 — 2014New York, New York, United States
- Sierra VenturesVenture Capital Senior Associate (summer)2009Menlo Park, CA
- aQuantiveSenior Program Manager2004 — 2008Greater Seattle Area
- AskMe CorporationProgram Manager2003 — 2004Greater Seattle Area
- Microsoft CorporationProgram Manager2000 — 2002Greater Seattle Area
- Cypress SemiconductorSoftware Developer (Co-op)1999San Francisco Bay Area
- IBMSoftware Developer (Co-op)1998Greater Ottawa Metropolitan Area
- Little League InternationalLittle League Baseball Umpire1990 — 1996Cornwall, Ontario
Skills & more
Product Management99Agile Project Management7Product Marketing9Crowdsourcing1Venture Capital26Digital Marketing17Knowledge ManagementData ManagementOnline Marketing10Developer ToolsEnterprise Software18MBA1
+12 more
Lean InitiativesIterative DesignUser ExperienceCanadaFrenchMeditationImprovisationScrumOnline AdvertisingAgileDigital StrategyCertified Scrum Master CSMLanguages French
- Certified ScrumMaster — Ken Schwaber
From Lylan's professional profile.
Colleagues at White Star Capital
Adam Gale
Manager, Fund Administrator at White Star Capital
Alberto Lopez Toledo
Venture Partner & CTO Advisory at White Star Capital
Alejandro Licona
Vice President at White Star Capital
Alex Thabet
Venture Partner at White Star Capital
Alex Wilson
Investor at White Star Capital
Arjun Mehra
Associate at White Star Capital
Bérénice Moustial
Vice President at White Star Capital
Blanche Ajarrista
Partner, Head of Strategy at White Star Capital
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Lylan Masterman?
- Lylan Masterman is co-founder and managing partner at Whipsmart Ventures, focusing on SpaceTech and DeepTech investments. He has been an investor since 2014, including as a general partner at White Star Capital, and serves as a board member and advisor to multiple startups and established firms. Previously, he spent 15 years in operating roles leading product and engineering organizations, including 4.5 years at aQuantive, which was acquired by Microsoft for $6.3 billion, as well as positions at Microsoft Research and on the .NET team. Masterman holds a computer science degree from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.
- Where does Lylan Masterman work?
- Lylan Masterman is General Partner at White Star Capital.
- What check size does Lylan Masterman write?
- Lylan Masterman typically writes checks of $1M – $7M.
- Where did Lylan Masterman go to school?
- Lylan Masterman studied at Kauffman Fellows (Class 19, Venture Capital); Center for Venture Education (Kauffman Fellow, Venture Capital); Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management (MBA, Venture Capital).
Same school
Also attended Kauffman Fellows31
Ben WirzFounding Partner at Brighteye VenturesAziz GilaniAssociate at Mercury FundClint KorverCofounder, Managing Director at Ulu VenturesPat BurtisAdvisor at DrivenJaime ZunzuneguiPartner at NazcaSaed NashefFounding Partner at RAED Ventures
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Also attended Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management577
Jenny LeeSenior Managing Partner at Granite AsiaKunal BahlCo-founder of Snapdeal; co-founder of Titan CapitalAndy FligelSenior Managing Director at Intel CapitalDavid Clark GuillermoInvestments at Impact America FundGiuseppe DonvitoPartner at P101 VenturesAntonio TurroniOperating Advisor at P101 Ventures
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Also attended University of Waterloo357
Chamath PalihapitiyaFounder & CEO of Social CapitalApoorva MehtaFounder of Instacart; founder of Cloud Health SystemsKarim GillaniGeneral Partner at Luge CapitalRohan MongaInvestment Associate at Luge CapitalAndrew MiklasGeneral Partner at Y CombinatorAniTalent Team at Hummingbird Ventures
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Shared employers
Also worked at Society of Kauffman Fellows18
Henri DeshaysGeneral Partner at Newfund CapitalKush M ParmarManaging Partner at 5AM VenturesDr. Tom HawesInvestor at Sandbox IndustriesJohn KimManaging Partner at AmasiaJuan Luis LeungliInvestor at Tectonic VenturesEric BallFounding General Partner at Impact Venture Capital
+ 12 more
Also worked at Digg9
David SzeAdvisory Partner at GreylockKevin RoseExploring emerging AI / tech trends, finance, health, minimal-living, philosophy, and the discipline of Zen.Andrew McLaughlinPartner at Higher Ground LabsBrian WongFounder & CEO at Ascii VenturesAndrei ZmievskiAdvisor at Katalyst VenturesKeval DesaiFounder & Partner at SHAKTI
+ 3 more
Also worked at Microsoft Corporation1,188
Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockGarry TanPresident & CEO of Y CombinatorNat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDGKai-Fu LeeChairman of Sinovation Ventures and CEO of 01.AIBill GatesCo-founder of Microsoft; Chair of the Gates FoundationMike KriegerCo-founder of Instagram; Chief Product Officer at Anthropic
+ 1,182 more
Also worked at IBM710
Brian ArmstrongCo-founder & CEO of CoinbaseOlivier PomelCo-founder & CEO of DatadogAlexis Le-QuocCo-founder & CTO of DatadogKen ChenaultInvestment Team at General CatalystRoger KrakoffGeneral Partner at Monta Vista CapitalAvi BharadwajInvestment Director at Intel Capital
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