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Asheem Chandna

Asheem seeks a partnership with founders who have identified a problem in enterprise, cybersecurity or infrastructure software and are eager to apply rigorous thinking to build a path-breaking solution – even if the value proposition has yet to fully emerge.

Asheem Chandna
bio bg 1

I want to be a beacon for talented founders at the earliest stage of their company building journey. If you have a great idea and the determination to pull it off, I’ll be there at the start and help you see it to fruition and success.

Engineer to operator to VC

I studied electrical engineering at Case Western Reserve University and stayed on for a masters degree in computer engineering. The next few years, when I worked in product architecture at Bell Labs, were foundational. They gave me a thirst for knowledge and the ability to think with rigor and humility. After that, I moved into product management roles at high-growth companies like SynOptics and Check Point Software, where I spent time alongside hardworking and brilliant colleagues. It’s also when I learned the most important aspect of marketing: taking complex ideas and distilling them into simple nuggets of truth. This mindset remains a touchstone of my work with founders.

Since joining Greylock in 2003, I’ve acted as a bridge between our firm and the companies we invest in. I’m fortunate to be able to draw on my experience to relate equally to engineers, salespeople, and customers.

Start with listening

Some of my best investments have come from getting to know and then funding founders at the concept stage. It’s never too early. If there’s an insightful person with thought-provoking, original ideas, I’d like to be there at the whiteboard, helping them shape their strategy.

I’ve done the zero to IPO journey (or zero to multi-billion dollar acquisition) many times over — with Palo Alto Networks, AppDynamics, Sumo Logic, and others — so I know what to look for at the earliest stages. And, most importantly, I know how to help founders turn the sketch on the whiteboard into a strong business — and a strong narrative.

I remember working with Rajiv Gupta, the visionary founder of the then fledgling startup Skyhigh Networks, one Friday night in early 2013 in a windowless San Jose conference room. The RSA conference was opening that Monday in San Francisco. Rajiv knew he had a breakthrough approach to cloud security. But the articulation wasn’t clear and so I tried a dose of reality. “The product is early,” I said. “We have no messaging, no VP of marketing, no website. We’re not ready.” It was a tough message but I felt my role at this moment was simply to be candid.

Rajiv listened, but he wanted to keep brainstorming. Soon we found ourselves, side-by-side in front of the white board, trying out key messages, crafting use cases, and wordsmithing clearer definitions. A picture began to emerge. The Burmese food we had ordered remained largely untouched as we took turns scribbling, diagraming, and testing one another’s ideas. Suddenly Rajiv stepped back from the whiteboard and said to me: “We don’t just have a company launch here,” he said. “We are inventing a new product category.” By noon Tuesday, the Skyhigh booth at RSA was mobbed. Gartner would soon christen Rajiv’s concept as “Cloud Access Security Broker.” CASB was launched.

Complex ideas, simple terms

Over two decades at Greylock, I have worked with people of varying experience and with radically different work styles. I adjust to the unique ways that founders like to work. When they have gaps in their abilities and skills, which even the best founders have, I help them to bridge those gaps and break through obstacles. I see myself as part of their team, dedicated to their success. I serve as a thought partner, approaching problems with a structured process so the founders can uncover an original insight that will advance the business. At every stage, I work with the founders to persuade world-class talent to join the team. All great companies, after all, come down to people.

I admire grit and perseverance – and have come to view them as indispensable qualities in founders. I want to work with individuals who are highly invested in their company and are eager to make sacrifices. An early-stage founder will always face some challenges. But if they value collaboration through rigorous thinking and clear communication, I’m confident we can win together.

Portfolio Companies

Abnormal Logo

Cloud email security platform.

Domain

AI, Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna, Saam Motamedi

LEADERSHIP

HQ

San Francisco, CA | USA

link
Axiamatic Logo

AI for ERP Modernization

Domain

AI

FIRST PARTNERED

Series A

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna, Corinne Riley

LEADERSHIP

HQ

Saratoga, CA

link
Bedrock Security Logo

Frictionless data security

Domain

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

LEADERSHIP

HQ

Menlo Park, CA

link
censys logo

Censys is the trusted provider of Internet security data.

Domain

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

HQ

Ann Arbor, MI | USA

link
Dazz Logo

The cloud security remediation platform.

Domain

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Acquired

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

HQ

Palo Alto & Tel Aviv

link
Delphix Logo

Delivering virtual data on demand.

Domain

Infrastructure

FIRST PARTNERED

Series A

CURRENT STATUS

Acquired

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

HQ

Redwood City, CA | USA

link
Kodem Logo

Software composition analysis platform.

Domain

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna, Jason Risch

LEADERSHIP

HQ

Tel Aviv

link
Obsidian Security Logo

Enterprise hybrid-cloud cybersecurity.

Domain

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Series A

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

HQ

Newport Beach, CA | USA

link
PaloAlto Logo

Next generation firewall.

Domain

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Public

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

HQ

Santa Clara, CA | USA

link
Rubrik Logo

Securing the world's data.

Domain

Cybersecurity, Infrastructure

FIRST PARTNERED

Series B

CURRENT STATUS

Public

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

HQ

Palo Alto, CA | USA

link
SevenAI Logo Grey

Reinventing Security Operations Through AI

Domain

AI, Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna, Jason Risch

LEADERSHIP

HQ

Boston, MA

link
Abnormal Logo

Cloud email security platform.

Abnormal Security is a cloud email security company for Office 365 and G Suite. The Abnormal Security platform leverages data science to stop the full range of email threats with a unique focus on modern social engineering attacks.

DOMAIN

AI, Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna, Saam Motamedi

LEADERSHIP

Evan Reiser, CEO & Co-Founder

Sanjay Jeyakumar, CTO & Co-Founder

HQ

San Francisco, CA | USA

Axiamatic Logo

AI for ERP Modernization

Axiamatic AI leverages an agentic platform, process-specific models, and proprietary knowledge bases to save organizations 25%+ in cost and schedule and 100,000+ hours of key stakeholder time in their ERP modernization initiatives.

DOMAIN

AI

FIRST PARTNERED

Series A

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna, Corinne Riley

LEADERSHIP

Rajiv Gupta - CEO and Co-Founder

Kaushik Narayan - CTO and Co-Founder

HQ

Saratoga, CA

Bedrock Security Logo

Frictionless data security

Bedrock Security is at the forefront of revolutionizing data security in the cloud and GenAI era.

DOMAIN

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Active

LEADERSHIP

Pranava Adduri, CEO & Co-founder

Ganesha Shanmuganathan, CTO & Co-founder

HQ

Menlo Park, CA

censys logo

Censys is the trusted provider of Internet security data.

DOMAIN

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

HQ

Ann Arbor, MI | USA

Dazz Logo

The cloud security remediation platform.

Dazz is the leader in cloud security remediation. Our platform maps your code-to-production pipeline across all your cloud environments; collapses your security alerts; identifies root cause and code owner; and tees up a dev-friendly code fix for one-click approval. With Dazz, you massively reduce your alert backlog, improve security posture, and ease tension between security and engineering.

DOMAIN

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Acquired

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

Merav Bahat, Co-founder & CEO

Tomer Schwartz, Co-founder & CEO

Yuval Ofir, Co-founder & VP R&D

HQ

Palo Alto & Tel Aviv

Delphix Logo
DOMAIN

Infrastructure

FIRST PARTNERED

Series A

CURRENT STATUS

Acquired

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

Jedidiah Yueh, CEO, Founder & Executive Chairman

HQ

Redwood City, CA | USA

Kodem Logo

Software composition analysis platform.

Kodem is redefining application security for fast-moving teams. Kodem Dynamic™️ is the industry’s only software composition analysis platform that uses runtime intelligence to determine actual application risk. Founded by veterans of elite cybersecurity organizations who have decades of combined experience in security research and innovation, Kodem helps AppSec teams gain deep application understanding, tune in to the signals that matter, and streamline remediation of the most critical issues.

DOMAIN

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna, Jason Risch

LEADERSHIP

Aviv Mussinger, Co-founder and CEO

Pavel Furman, Co-founder and CTO

Idan Bartura, Co-founder and Head of Engineering

HQ

Tel Aviv

Obsidian Security Logo
DOMAIN

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Series A

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

Hasan Imam, CEO

Glenn Chisholm, Co-Founder, Chairman & CPO

Ben Johnson, CTO & Co-Founder

Matt Wolff, Chief Scientist & Co-Founder

HQ

Newport Beach, CA | USA

PaloAlto Logo

Next generation firewall.

Palo Alto Networks is the world's cybersecurity leader. We innovate to outpace cyberthreats so organizations can embrace technology with confidence. We provide next-generation cybersecurity to thousands of customers globally, across all sectors. Our best-in-class cybersecurity platforms and services are backed by industry-leading threat intelligence and strengthened by state-of-the-art automation. Whether deploying our products to enable the Zero Trust Enterprise, responding to a security incident or partnering to deliver better security outcomes through a world-class partner ecosystem, we're committed to helping ensure each day is safer than the one before. It's what makes us the cybersecurity partner of choice.

DOMAIN

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Public

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

Nikesh Arora, CEO

Nir Zuk, CTO & Founder

HQ

Santa Clara, CA | USA

Rubrik Logo

Securing the world's data.

Rubrik is on a mission to secure the world’s data. The company sits at the intersection of data, security, and AI. Founded in 2014, the cybersecurity company helps ensure organizations can operate in the presence of cyber attacks. Rubrik pioneered a platform of Zero Trust Data Security™ to provide cyber resilience amid all forms of cyber events including ransomware. Greylock’s partnership with Rubrik was early, in 2015, before the company’s first products were market-ready. Today, Rubrik’s Data Security Cloud delivers industry-leading cybersecurity and secures customers' data across enterprise, cloud, and SaaS applications. The company is a global leader with more than 5,000 global customers and more than $500M in ARR.

DOMAIN

Cybersecurity, Infrastructure

FIRST PARTNERED

Series B

CURRENT STATUS

Public

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

Bipul Sinha, CEO & Co-Founder

Arvind Nithrakashyap, Co-Founder

Arvind Jain, Co-Founder

Soham Mazumdar, Co-Founder

HQ

Palo Alto, CA | USA

SevenAI Logo Grey

Reinventing Security Operations Through AI

Seven AI is dedicated to transforming security operations, empowering defenders to combat the increasing wave of cyber attacks. By harnessing cutting-edge advancements in artificial intelligence, Seven AI removes the necessity for intricate detection engineering, manual threat hunting and traditional playbooks. This innovative approach streamlines and enhances the effectiveness of cybersecurity defenses.

DOMAIN

AI, Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Active

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna, Jason Risch

LEADERSHIP

Lior Div, CEO & Co-Founder

Yonatan Striem Amit, CTO & Co-Founder

HQ

Boston, MA

Appdynamics Logo
DOMAIN

Infrastructure

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Acquired

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

David Wadhwani, Former CEO & President

Jyoti Bansal, Founder and Executive Chairman

Bhaskar Sunkara, CTO, Head of Product, & Founding Team Member

HQ

San Francisco, CA | USA

AVI Networks Logo Grey
DOMAIN

Infrastructure

FIRST PARTNERED

Series A

CURRENT STATUS

Acquired

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

Amit Pandey, CEO

HQ

Palo Alto, CA | USA

Awake Logo

Advanced security analytics.

Awake Security is the only advanced network traffic analysis company that delivers answers, not alerts. By combining artificial intelligence with human expertise, Awake models and hunts for both insider and external attacker behaviors while providing full forensics across traditional, IoT, and cloud networks for autonomous triage and response. The platform is ranked #1 by EMA for time to value and was recognized as the #1 information security solution being evaluated by global 1000 companies in Enterprise Technology Research’s (ETR) Summer 2019 Emerging Technology Study.

DOMAIN

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Series A

CURRENT STATUS

Acquired

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

Rahul Kashyap, CEO

HQ

Santa Clara, CA | USA

innovium logo

Next generation infrastructure solutions.

Innovium is a leading provider of high performance, innovative switching silicon solutions for Cloud and Edge data centers. Innovium TERALYNX family delivers software compatible products ranging from 1Tbps to 12.8Tbps with unmatched telemetry, low latency, programmability, and large buffers, and a feature rich architecture that scales to 51.2Tbps+. Innovium’s products have been selected and validated by market-leading switch OEM, ODM and cloud providers. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley, California and is backed by leading venture capital firms including Greylock Partners, Walden Riverwood, Capricorn Investment Group, Qualcomm Ventures, S-Cubed Capital and Redline Capital.

DOMAIN

Infrastructure

FIRST PARTNERED

Series B

CURRENT STATUS

Acquired

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

Rajiv Khemani, CEO & Co-Founder

Puneet Agarwal, CTO & Co-Founder

HQ

San Jose, CA | USA

neeva logo

Neeva is search re-imagined — always ad-free, private, and deeply personal.

Neeva is the world’s first completely ad-free, private search engine. We help our users find exactly what matters to them, whether that information is on the web, in their buried emails or in an impossible-to-find document. We never show distracting ads, and we keep all searches private. Neeva is building a digital world that revolves around people — not advertisers.

DOMAIN

AI

FIRST PARTNERED

Series A

CURRENT STATUS

Acquired

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna, Reid Hoffman

LEADERSHIP

Sridhar Ramaswamy, Co-Founder & CEO

Vivek Raghunathan, Co-Founder

HQ

Mountain View, CA | USA

Skyhigh Logo

Discover, analyze & control the usage and risk of all your cloud services.

DOMAIN

Cybersecurity

FIRST PARTNERED

Series A

CURRENT STATUS

Acquired

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

Rajiv Gupta, CEO & Co-Founder

Sekhar Sarukkai, VP of Engineering & Co-Founder

Kaushik Narayan, CTO & Co-Founder

HQ

Campbell, CA | USA

Arista Logo
DOMAIN

Infrastructure

FIRST PARTNERED

Common Stock

CURRENT STATUS

Public

INVESTORS

Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

Jayshree Ullal, President & CEO

Andy Bechtolsheim, Co-Founder, CDO & Chairman

Kenneth Duda, Co-Founder, CTO & SVP of Software Engineering

HQ

Santa Clara, CA | USA

Sumo Logic Logo

Next generation log management and analytics company.

Sumo Logic is a leader in continuous intelligence, a new category of software, which enables organizations of all sizes address the data challenges and opportunities presented by digital transformation, modern applications, and cloud computing. The Sumo Logic Continuous Intelligence Platform™ automates the collection, ingestion, and analysis of application, infrastructure, security, and IoT data to derive actionable insights within seconds. More than 2,000 customers rely on Sumo Logic to build, run, and secure their modern applications and cloud infrastructures.

DOMAIN

Cybersecurity, Infrastructure

FIRST PARTNERED

Seed

CURRENT STATUS

Acquired

INVESTORS

Joseph Ansanelli, Asheem Chandna

LEADERSHIP

Joe Kim, President & CEO

Christian Beedgen, CTO & Co-Founder

Bruno Kurtic, founding VP of Product and Strategy

HQ

Redwood City, CA | USA

Previous Investments

Insights

View All
Three Questions Every Enterprise AI Startup Should Ask
Press // Asheem Chandna

Three Questions Every Enterprise AI Startup Should Ask

link
Scaling with Intuition
Greymatter // Asheem Chandna

Scaling with Intuition

link
Four Tasks For CEOs In 2023: Leveraging The Downturn
Press // Asheem Chandna

Four Tasks For CEOs In 2023: Leveraging The Downturn

link
Where Does AI Go Next?
Press // Asheem Chandna

Where Does AI Go Next?

link
The Long Game In Cybersecurity
Press // Asheem Chandna

The Long Game In Cybersecurity

link
Want To Win? Create The Right Early GTM Strategy.
Press // Asheem Chandna

Want To Win? Create The Right Early GTM Strategy.

link
Rubrik Logo
post image
Greymatter // Asheem Chandna

The Zero Trust Strategy

link
Nikesh Arora
Press // Asheem Chandna

How To Win The Startup War For Talent

link
Bipul Singha - Scaling With Intuition
Press // Asheem Chandna

The Evolution Of A Startup CEO

link
What Matters Most To VCs At Series A?
Press // Asheem Chandna

What Matters Most To VCs At Series A?

link
How To Fundraise In A Pandemic – And In Every Environment
Press // Asheem Chandna

How To Fundraise In A Pandemic – And In Every Environment

link
Awake Logo
post image

Congratulations to Awake and Arista

link
Sumo Logic Logo
post image

Congrats Sumo Logic! (Nasdaq: SUMO)

link
Kodem Logo
post image

Next Generation Application Security

link
Digitization Of Enterprise Software Sales
Press // Asheem Chandna

Digitization Of Enterprise Software Sales

link
Abnormal Logo
post image

Our Investment in Abnormal Security

link
Obsidian Logo Grey
post image

Our Investment in Obsidian Security

link
innovium logo
post image

Our Investment in Innovium: Next-Generation Cloud Data Center Networks

link
Rubrik Logo
post image

Our Investment in Rubrik: Apple-like Simplicity and Delight for Your Data Center

link

In the News

How These Software-as-a-Service Startups Are Making Life Harder for Everyone Else

link

Greylock Leads $36 Million Financing for Cybersecurity Startup Seven AI

link
TechCrunch // 04.26.24

How Rubrik’s IPO paid off big for Greylock VC Asheem Chandna

link

CrowdStrike Chief, FBI Agent and Others Discuss Spies, Threats and Deepfakes, at WSJ Tech Live: Cybersecurity

link
Business Insider // 08.28.23

The 34 most promising AI startups of 2023, according to top VCs

link
Business Insider // 07.24.23

73 of the most promising startups of 2023, according to top VCs

link
TechCrunch // 06.13.23

Kodem comes out of stealth with $25M to tackle application security

link
Axios // 10.04.22

Cyber investors aren’t worried about a recession — yet

link
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