Bill Gurley

Bill Gurley joined Benchmark Capital in 1999, having previously been a prominent technology analyst at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell and Hummer Winblad. He became one of the most successful technology investors of his generation, with Benchmark's early investment in Uber generating billions in returns. He also led investments in Yelp, OpenTable, Stitch Fix, and other marketplace businesses. Gurley has been one of the most intellectually rigorous voices in venture capital, writing a popular blog "Above the Crowd" where he developed analytical frameworks for marketplace businesses and was an early and persistent critic of the venture-funded startup unicorn valuation bubble. He has been critical of the amount of capital being deployed into loss-making startups at implausible valuations, arguing this distorts markets and ultimately harms employees and investors.