Rob Hayes

About

Rob Hayes is a prominent American venture capitalist, best known as a former partner at First Round Capital, where he famously led the firm's historic seed-stage investment in Uber in 2010. During his tenure at First Round from 2006 to 2019, Hayes established himself as one of Silicon Valley's most successful early-stage investors, earning regular placements on the Forbes Midas List of top tech investors. Before his time at First Round, Hayes built a diverse career in product management and corporate development. He served as a product manager at Palm, helping shape the early mobile computing landscape, and later became the Investment Director at Omidyar Network, where he focused on early social media and community platforms. He also spent time at Yahoo! as a senior director of conversational marketing. Beyond his landmark investment in Uber, Hayes's impressive portfolio includes successful startups such as Mint.com, TaskRabbit, Square, and Clover Health. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University and an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. In 2019, Hayes decided to step back from active venture fund management to focus on personal pursuits and angel investing, leaving behind a legacy as one of the definitive seed investors of the modern tech era.

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