David Cowan

David Cowan, a partner in Bessemer’s Silicon Valley office, launched the firm’s practices in cloud infrastructure, consumer tech, cyber-security and space tech. His historical portfolio includes Ciena, Blue Nile, Twilio, LinkedIn, LifeLock, Qualys and 16 other IPOs, as well as many large acquisitions such as Twitch, Postini, Cyota, iSight, Tripwire, Netli, Playdom, Nonimum, Dropcam and Skybox Imaging. His current portfolio – spanning startups founded in the U.S., Argentina, Singapore, Israel, New Zealand and Scotland – includes Rocket Lab, Spire, GetInsured, Smule, Endgame, Claroty, Tile, Iris Automation, Auth0 and Zapier.

During his tenure at BVP, David co-founded three cyber security companies incubated in our offices: VeriSign (IPO), where David served as initial Chairman and CFO; Good Technology (fka Visto, acquired by Blackberry) where David served as CEO, and Defense.net (acquired by F5).

David earned an A.B. in math and computer science and an MBA degree, both from Harvard University. Forbes ranked him #6 on the Midas List and tied for 4th in the Midas List of Hall of Fame. He serves on several non-profit boards including Center For Inquiry. David is co-writer of the Silicon Valley mockumentary series Bubbleproof.