Peter Fenton
General Partner at Benchmark
San Francisco, CA
Writes $2M β $20M checks Β· typically $4M
Midas 2026 Β· #44Midas 2025 Β· #56Midas 2024 Β· #19Midas 2023 Β· #24Midas 2022 Β· #37Midas 2020 Β· #25Midas 2019 Β· #2Midas 2018 Β· #7Midas 2017 Β· #3Midas 2016 Β· #4Midas 2015 Β· #2Midas 2014 Β· #3Midas 2013 Β· #6Midas 2012 Β· #5Midas 2011Midas 2009Midas 2008Midas 2007
About
Peter Fenton has been a general partner at Benchmark since 2006, following early years at Accel. His investments and board seats have included Twitter, Yelp, New Relic, Elastic, and Zuora, making him one of the longest-tenured recurring names on the Midas List.
Peter Fenton @peterfenton
Cost containment is a short position: gains capped, best case you save what you spend. Revenue expansion is a long position: unbounded upside. Thatβs why @claybavor and @btaylor acquired TakeOff https://t.co/iqqelcvDPx
Jul 25, 2026 Β· β₯ 18 Β· β 1
Peter Fenton @peterfenton
Transformational launch https://t.co/5VVJnEDS6F
Jul 16, 2026 Β· β₯ 72 Β· β 1
Invests in
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSocial
Experience
- Benchmark CapitalGeneral Partnercurrent2006 β present
- ExaBoard Membercurrent2025 β present
- MercorBoard Membercurrent2025 β present
- SierraBoard Membercurrent2023 β present
- OllamaBoard Membercurrent2022 β present
- AirtableBoard Membercurrent2018 β present
- ClickHouseBoard Membercurrent2021 β present
- Cockroach LabsBoard Membercurrent2015 β present
- Docker, Inc. (Formerly dotCloud, Inc.)Board Membercurrent2011 β presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- SorareBoard Membercurrent2020 β present
- Wildlife StudiosBoard Membercurrent2019 β present
- Sema4.aiBoard Membercurrent2019 β present
- DigitsBoard Membercurrent2018 β present
- Buoyant, IncBoard Membercurrent2017 β present
- TimescaleDBBoard Membercurrent2018 β present
- Here Not There LabsBoard Membercurrent2020 β present
- San Francisco OperaBoard Membercurrent2013 β present
- ElasticsearchBoard Member2012 β 2021San Francisco Bay Area
- RevinateBoard Member2012 β 2021San Francisco Bay Area
- ZuoraBoard Member2007 β 2021Redwood City, CA
Education
- Stanford University Graduate School of BusinessMaster of Business Administration (MBA)1998 β 2000
- Stanford UniversityBachelor of Arts (BA), Philosophy1990 β 1994
Deals Β· 3
Elasticsearch GlobalBoard seat
via Benchmark Β· filed Nov 2017
Attribution from SEC filings, press coverage, and firm rosters.
Podcasts & interviews
featuring Peter FentonBenchmark's Sarah Tavel on being recruited by Peter Fenton, disrupting VC from inside | Angel S4 E4
This Week in Startups
The Benchmark Partnership: Peter Fenton, Eric Vishria, Chetan Puttagunta, Ev Randle | Ep. 41
Uncapped with Jack Altman
The Craft of Early Stage Venture | Peter Fenton, General Partner at Benchmark
Uncapped with Jack Altman
What VC Investing Is Really Like - Peter Fenton (Benchmark Capital) & Jeff Seibert (Digits)
Startup Grind
Colleagues at Benchmark
Network10
Investors connected to Peter in public investor directories β a warm-intro map.