Theresia Gouw


Theresia Gouw is an entrepreneur and venture capital investor in the technology sector. She worked at Bain & Company, Release Software and Accel Partners before co-founding Aspect Ventures, a female-led venture capital firm, in 2014. Gouw was named one of the 40 most influential minds in tech by Time Magazine. and has been recognized seven times on the Forbes Midas List as one of the "world's smartest tech investors".

Education

Gouw earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Brown University, graduating magna cum laude, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Career

Gouw began her career at Bain & Company. She left Bain to become a founding member of Release Software, a startup founded by business school classmates, where she served as Vice President of Business Development & Sales.
After Release Software, Gouw joined Accel Partners, eventually becoming Managing Partner. Her investments included Trulia, Imperva, LearnVest, JasperDesign, and Kozmix.
In 2014, Gouw co-founded Aspect Ventures with fellow venture capital investor Jennifer Fonstad. Gouw and Fonstad worked together early in their careers at Bain & Company and at Release Software. During the first year, Aspect Ventures made several Series A and seed investments funded by the co-founders' personal capital. In May 2015, Aspect announced it had raised its first $150MM fund, which included outside capital from Limited Partners. The firm has made investments in companies including ForeScout, Cato Networks, Exabeam, The Muse, and Crew.

Board member and advisor

Gouw sits on the board of directors of several of the companies she has invested in, including Deserve, Cato Networks, ForeScout Technologies, Exabeam and The Muse. She serves as Treasurer on the Brown University Corporation Board. She serves as vice-chair of the board of DonorsChoose, and is a member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Castilleja School.

Honors

Speaking

Gouw has provided commentary on a range of topics related to venture capital, technology and finance on CNBC, Bloomberg West, Fox Business, Forbes, Fortune, and the Wall Street Journal.