Out of all the posts I’ve written over the years, this one gives me the greatest pleasure. I am thrilled to announce that my colleague of over three years, Angela Tran Kingyens, has been promoted to Principal. In this new role Angela will start leading deals for Version One and this will obviously increase our investment capacity.
When I first started Version One in 2012, I wasn’t sure if it would stay a partner firm forever or ultimately evolve into a partnership. After all, partnerships are hard to grow and can turn messy. Sometimes staying small is the best strategy.
Three years ago, I brought Angela onboard as an analyst to help manage the growing amount of work and bolster our presence in Silicon Valley. Since then, she has been instrumental to the firm, sourcing investments like Shippo, Blockstack, and Zenput and providing an invaluable filter to identify special entrepreneurs and opportunities. She has been managing the day-to-day activities of the fund, while working with our portfolio companies on data and hiring projects.
She developed our thesis on healthcare together with Union Square Ventures, played an critical role in our Guide to Marketplaces, and led our second ebook on social platforms. She has built a deep network in Silicon Valley.
Perhaps more importantly, Angela has sparked some of the most productive and provocative discussions within V1. She has pushed my thinking to new levels across many different areas and was key in developing our re-focused investment thesis around network effects. The best partnerships turn diverse perspectives into constructive discussions on how to invest and what to invest in. That’s why I’m so confident that this is the right time to grow Version One and that Angela is the right person.
Angela is a data scientist with a passion for leadership development. Before joining V1, she co-launched Insight Data Science, a YC-backed startup designed to help PhDs transition from academic research to careers in industry via a six-week training program. She received her PhD in Operations Research and Engineering from the University of Toronto where she taught classes like “Entrepreneurship and Business for Engineers” and “Leadership and Leading for Groups and Organizations.”
For those of you who have already worked with Angela, you already know that there’s not a better person to represent the kind of investor that V1 strives to be. She is always helpful and supportive, but can push back and call out an inconvenient truth when necessary. When we go through our internal feedback from entrepreneurs, Angela consistently gets high marks in this respect.
Congratulations to my friend and colleague. I am truly excited to have you as a partner in Version One and cannot wait to see where we go from here.
P.S.: you can follow Angela on Twitter or by signing up to our blog.
