Alexander Taussig

Partner Lightspeed Ventures

Alex joined Lightspeed in 2016 as a Partner focused on consumer technology.  He led Lightspeed’s investments in Daily Harvest and Zola, and focuses on online commerce, digital media, and emerging consumer platforms.

He previously spent nearly 7 years at Highland Capital, where as a Partner he led early stage investments across several sectors of consumer technology, including marketplaces (thredUP), virtual reality (Jaunt VR), and real estate (RentJuice, acquired by Zillow). He was also involved in the firm’s investments in 2U (NASDAQ:TWOU), Bit9, Imprivata (NASDAQ:IMPR), RethinkDB, Rethink Robotics, Streambase (acquired by TIBCO), and Vertica (acquired by HP). In addition, Alex led the Summer@Highland entrepreneurship program, which has mentored more than 50 student-led startups from inception, including Cloudflare, Handy, and Wildfire (acquired by Google).

Prior to Highland, Alex studied physics at Harvard College, where he graduated summa cum laude, with highest honors in his concentration. He then received an MS in materials engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was part of a research group building the first fully optical computer chip. Alex also received an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, an honor given to the top 5% of the graduating class.

Alex is an inaugural member of the Global Shapers Community of the World Economic Forum, a group of leaders charged with catalyzing positive social change in their respective communities. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and son and enjoys exploring the city’s culinary and cultural scene.