The Enviable Role of David Krane at GV: Navigating Investments with Google’s Backing
David Krane, as the CEO of GV, holds a position many would consider enviable. With Google funding the venture firm to the tune of $1 billion annually, Krane and his team of around 100 have the opportunity to make significant investment decisions. However, they do so under a few strategic restrictions.
Speaking at a TechCrunch StrictlyVC event in San Francisco, Krane shared that over the past five years, GV has invested in an impressive 800 companies and over its 15-year history, more than $10 billion has been allocated. Among these investments, Uber stands out with a $258 million Series C round back in 2013. More recently, GV made headlines by investing $140 million into Cribl, a data infrastructure startup, as part of a $319 million Series E round.
- GV’s investment strategy is purely for financial returns.
- The firm primarily focuses on the U.S. market, followed by Europe.
- Investment sectors include life sciences, healthcare, biotech, and digital ventures.
GV’s autonomy allows it to operate with few limitations. This freedom includes not having to navigate a “red line” that separates it from Alphabet’s growth-stage firm, CapitalG. While both entities may invest in the same companies—such as Stripe and Cribl—Krane emphasizes the importance of communication over competition.
“We’re funded by the same source,” Krane noted. “The secret there is to communicate well.”
{David Krane}
One clear boundary is not poaching Google talent to create startups for GV to fund. Interestingly, members from Google’s AI-driven note-taking tool, NotebookLM, who recently left to start their own venture were discussed during Krane’s talk.
Krane acknowledged this phenomenon: “Occasionally, there are teams that will leave Google to pursue a startup, and GV will get involved… There’s a massively impressive diaspora of people from Alphabet doing startups now.”
The dynamics between Google employees departing for startups and GV’s potential involvement raises interesting questions about internal talent flow:
“The goal is to stay at Google if you’re at Google and build transformational products,” Krane said. “But some people don’t stay forever. That’s a fact of life.”
{David Krane}
For more insights from David Krane’s discussion on GV’s investment strategies and its relationship with Google talent, you can listen to or watch the full conversation below.
