David Sze

David Sze – Life, Career & Insights from a Leading American Investor

Learn about David Sze — American entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Explore his early life, major investments (Facebook, LinkedIn, Pandora, etc.), his philosophy, and lessons from his career in tech and venture capital.

Introduction

David Sze is an American entrepreneur and investor best known for his role as a long-time partner at Greylock Partners, where he has led early bets in transformative technology and consumer companies. His influence extends across social media, gaming, consumer platforms, and networked services. Over the years Sze has earned recognition on Forbes’s “Midas List,” and he continues to shape the tech landscape while serving on multiple boards and as a trustee in leading educational and research institutions.

In this article, we trace Sze’s beginnings, his career trajectory, his investment philosophy, notable deals, and the lessons his journey offers to entrepreneurs, tech investors, and professionals alike.

Early Life, Education & Formative Experiences

David Sze was born on March 8, 1966. Buckingham, Browne & Nichols high school before heading to Yale University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics & Political Science in 1988. MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

While at Yale (specifically in Branford College), Sze exhibited early signs of entrepreneurial spirit: as a junior, he started a dorm-based VCR tape rental service — a small venture reflecting his interest in consumer services and risk-taking.

His education and early experiments in entrepreneurship laid a foundation in thinking about consumer behavior, platform models, and the intersection of technology and everyday life.

Career and Milestones

Early Professional Roles

After completing his undergraduate studies, Sze embarked on a diverse early career path:

• He worked in management consulting at Marakon Associates and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), gaining exposure to business strategy and operational models.

• He also spent time at HBO, broadening his exposure to media and entertainment.

• He then moved into interactive entertainment and gaming: roles in product marketing at Electronic Arts and in development at Crystal Dynamics.

Transitioning into internet companies, Sze joined Excite in the mid-1990s, one of the pioneering search and portal firms of the early web. At Excite, he held multiple leadership positions: general manager of

These roles exposed him to consumer web scale, content strategies, and product management challenges — experience that would later help in assessing early-stage consumer tech investments.

Greylock Partners & Venture Investing

In 2000, Sze joined Greylock Partners, a storied Silicon Valley venture capital firm. consumer media, gaming, social platforms, and networked services.

Over time, Sze took a leading role in many of Greylock’s marquee investments and helped raise significant funds for the firm. Senior Managing Partner at Greylock.

Some of Sze’s notable investments and board roles include:

• Facebook: invested early (circa 2006), when Facebook was still a closed network for college students. He also served as a board observer during its growth.

• LinkedIn: Sze was a board member from before its IPO through its acquisition by Microsoft in 2016.

• Pandora: another consumer platform investment where Sze played a role.

• Nextdoor: Sze has served on the board.

• Discord, Caavo, and other consumer/gaming startups.

He also oversees Greylock’s participation in Northern Lights Venture Capital, advising that fund’s investments.

Sze’s investment track record earned him repeated appearances on Forbes’s Midas List, which ranks the top technology investors globally.

Beyond his investing roles, Sze holds governance positions and academic/trust appointments:

• He is a Trustee of Yale University.

• He is a Trustee of Rockefeller University.

In these roles, he brings insights from technology, innovation, and the future of research and education.

Philosophy, Style & Influence

Investment Thesis & Approach

Sze is known for backing consumer and social platforms that can scale and benefit from network effects, virality, or content dynamics. believe in it and explain why it might.

He has spoken about the importance of innovation and embracing failure as part of the journey. In Silicon Valley and startup communities, he encourages risk-taking and learning from setbacks.

In the Yale Daily News, Sze commented that his role is often to champion opportunities and potential that others may overlook.

Influence & Legacy

Through his early bets in Facebook, LinkedIn, and consumer/social platforms, Sze helped shape how social tech evolved in the 2000s and 2010s. His influence is felt not only through board oversight but also in how newer investors and founders look at consumer scale, engagement, and platform dynamics.

As a trustee and advisor in academic and scientific institutions, Sze helps bridge the worlds of technology and research, influencing how universities think about innovation, entrepreneurship, and digital transformation.

Lessons from David Sze’s Journey

1. Start small but think big
   Sze’s dorm-room venture hints at early experimentation. He used small-scale projects to understand consumer dynamics before committing at scale.

2. Cross-disciplinary experience is valuable
   His trajectory — consulting, media, gaming, search — gave him domain depth and breadth, allowing him to assess startups across sectors.

3. Have conviction in contrarian ideas
   Many successful ventures begin from ideas others doubt. The willingness to believe in a vision, when others don’t, is a trait of many top investors.

4. Embrace failure as learning
   The early dot-com and search era had many misfires (e.g. Excite was eventually overshadowed by Google). But Sze views setbacks as chance to refine thinking.

5. Focus on user/product dynamics
   In consumer investing, product design, engagement, retention, virality — these matter more than sheer technology alone. Sze often evaluates companies on how well they connect with users.

6. Bridge worlds
   By contributing to academic governance and research institutions, he demonstrates that innovation benefits from being connected to broader intellectual and scientific ecosystems.

Representative Quotes & Statements

While David Sze is more often heard in interviews than quoted in pithy lines, here are a few illustrative remarks:

• On risk and innovation: “When everyone says that the company can’t be [successful], it’s my job to believe in it and explain why it might happen.”

• On taking risks and embracing failure: He remarks that in Silicon Valley, setbacks are acceptable as long as one learns and builds connections.

• On his role at Yale: he intends to bring the “West Coast spirit” of innovation and risk-taking into academic environments.

These statements underline his mindset: optimistic, contrarian, pragmatic.

Conclusion

David Sze’s path — from a small dorm-room venture to guiding some of the most successful consumer tech companies — illustrates the combination of domain knowledge, bold vision, and strategic patience. His career underscores that success in technology investing is rarely about following trends, but about seeing patterns and opportunities before others do.

Through his board roles, trusteeships, and ongoing investments, Sze continues to shape the interface of technology, society, and knowledge. Aspiring founders, investors, or professionals can draw many lessons from his focus on user-first models, his willingness to bet boldly, and his commitment to learning across disciplines.