RALLY | Steven Lee of SV Angel on Breaking Barriers in Entrepreneurship
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Spotlight | Steven Lee
We are honored to spotlight Steven Lee , Partner at SV Angel investing in seed-stage founders across AI, enterprise, fintech, and consumer technology. Before joining SV Angel, Steven was a Director at Bain Capital Ventures, working with portfolio companies like Clockwise and Magical. He was also the founder of Bain Capital Ventures’ data-driven sourcing efforts. Prior to becoming a venture capitalist, Steven was an early member of Twitter’s Global Market Insight & Analytics team.
In 2024, Gold House honored Steven as part of its A100 List in recognition of his achievements and leadership in venture capital. Steven is a proud son of two immigrants from South Korea and grew up in Los Angeles’ Koreatown district. He now lives in San Francisco with his wife and newborn daughter.
Can you tell us a little bit about your investment philosophy & approach? Can you walk us through your due diligence process when considering an investment?
SV Angel is a San Francisco-based venture capital fund and one of the early investors in companies like Airbnb, DoorDash, Google, OpenAI, and Stripe. We partner with founders in their first round out of our seed fund, often before they have a working product or demo and revenue. We also have a growth fund that typically invests in Series B and later opportunities. During the early stages of the company, we focus on understanding the founders - learning more about their backgrounds, childhoods, and family influences. Successful founders tend to be resilient, curious, and deeply passionate about their work. This passion is essential, as building a company is incredibly challenging, and it’s easy to lose motivation without it.
One of the most important questions I always ask when I meet a founder for the first time is, “What is your long-term vision for the company?” It may seem like a simple question, but the answer reveals the ambition and roadmap that the founders envision. I’m particularly drawn to entrepreneurs who articulate their vision with unique insights, demonstrating that building this particular company is genuinely their life’s work. This clarity is a strong indicator that I want to be an unwavering and lifelong partner to them.
What inspired you to become a venture capitalist, and what motivates you to keep working in this field?
Like millions of immigrants in the United States, my parents left South Korea in their 30s, chasing the elusive American Dream with limited English skills and no established networks. They were the first entrepreneurs I knew, building their small business from the ground up. It’s incredibly humbling to support ambitious entrepreneurs as they navigate their own journeys today. I’m constantly inspired by today’s entrepreneurs, especially by their resilience and creativity, which reminds me of the challenges my parents had to overcome.
What are some unique challenges or opportunities Asian entrepreneurs may face?
There are still significant obstacles for Asian American entrepreneurs. A majority of Asian college students are first or second-generation immigrants. And many of them are like me - my parents were highly educated, immigrated from South Korea to the United States, and had to start from scratch to make it in this country. Learning about corporate America at the dinner table didn’t happen, and for most Asian founders, there was no rolodex of connections to secure summer internships or jobs through their family’s network. We all know that Asian Americans have always had to start from scratch, kicking down doors and battling biases.
I also know everyone has been talking about AI, and this is very exciting for our community. AI’s influence is undeniable, already benefiting over 1 billion knowledge workers in industries across finance, law, and marketing. Yet, I am most excited about AI’s impact on the rest of the world and its potential to enhance the lives of over 8 billion individuals, whether through proofreading content for emails for someone not fluent in the specific language or helping an aspiring music producer without financial resources to create songs without expensive equipment. AI is the equalizer for the 90%, poised to transform lives on a global scale. I eagerly anticipate a world where every individual, regardless of background or circumstance, can realize their fullest potential through AI.
Asian American CEOs are already leading the most important AI companies - Nvidia, Google, Microsoft, Scale AI, Notion, and we can keep going on and on. This is different from past technology shifts like mobile, cloud, or even the start of the Internet. I believe representation here will inspire the next generation Asian Americans to become more entrepreneurial.
Who are some stellar API founders and their startups we should look out for?
I have been fortunate to partner with many impressive API founders over the years, some of which I’ve listed here, like Gaurav Misra (Captions), Michael Ma (District), Joshua X. (HeyGen), Harpaul Sambhi and Rosie Chopra (Magical), Chris Yin (Plume), and Deepak Pathak and Abhinav Gupta (Skild AI).
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In particular, Skild AI is a fast-growing AI company building general-purpose robotic intelligence that recently launched out of stealth, which many people will hear more about in the coming months. The founders, Deepak Pathak and Abhinav Gupta, were not only the world’s leading experts in robotics, but they also wanted to build this company because of the current and projected labor shortage in important industries like healthcare, construction, warehousing, and manufacturing. Many of these jobs are dangerous for humans, but with Skild AI’s technology, any kind of robot can be agile, dexterous, and safe to interact with people, which will change the physical economy.
Please feel free to email me if you’re interested in joining any of these companies. I hope to highlight more in the coming years.
What advice would you give to aspiring VCs who are looking to break into the industry, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds?
My key piece of advice is to start doing the work before you officially step into the role. Attend events where you can meet founders and VCs, such as those hosted by Gold House, various demo days, and startup meetups on weekends and evenings.
When I was trying to break into VC while working at Twitter, I built my network by attending as many meetups as possible. I made it a point to understand the sectors and founders that other VCs were interested in, which enabled me to make meaningful introductions when I connected with startup founders. By actively engaging with the industry and finding ways to add value to founders, you can quickly establish a network that opens doors for you in the future. Many of my closest VC friends today are people I met this way 8-9 years ago.
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