John Vrionis
John J. Vrionis Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | John J. Vrionis Jr. |
| Education | Harvard University (B.A.) University of Chicago (M.S.) Stanford University (MBA) |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman, educator |
| Known for | Venture capital, co-founding Unusual Ventures |
John Vrionis is an American businessman and educator known for being the co-founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Unusual Ventures.[1][2] He previously served as a partner at Lightspeed Ventures.[3]
Education
Vrionis graduated from Harvard University in 1997[4] with a BA in Economics.[5] He played varsity soccer for Harvard's soccer team.[6][4] He also received an MS degree in Computer Science from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.[5]
Career
During his early career, Vrionis worked as an associate at ABN AMRO Venture Capital and a product manager at Determina.[7][5]From 2007-2018, Vrionis served as a partner at Lightspeed Ventures.[3][8] As part of Lightspeed Ventures, he invested in companies such as Nicira, Nimble Storage, IO Turbine, Pliant Technology, and MuleSoft.[9][5] He also founded the Lightspeed Summer Fellowship for young aspiring entrepreneurs.[10][5]
Vrionis founded Unusual Ventures with AppDynamics founder Jyoti Bansal in 2018.[1][3][11][2]He had previously invested in AppDynamics while he was still at Lightspeed Ventures.[12]
Vrionis was named to Forbes’s Midas List of Best Venture Capitol Investors in 2017 and 2019.[13][14][5]
Vrionis was also named to Business Insider’s Seed 100 List of Best Early-Stage Investors of 2024.[15]
Vrionis has served as a lecturer in Management at Stanford University.[16]
References
- ^ a b Konrad, Alex. "The Founder And First Investor Behind $3.7B Exit AppDynamics Launch $160M Fund To Do VC Differently". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ a b "AppDynamics founder and Lightspeed vet join forces to shake up seed-stage investing". PitchBook. 2024-06-05. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ a b c "These investors say venture capital is broken — and they've started an 'Unusual' new fund to fix it". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ a b "The Professionalization of Ivy League Sports". www.harvardmagazine.com. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ a b c d e f "Meet The Top 100 Investors On Forbes Midas List". Inc42 Media. 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "John Harvard's Journal - Sports". harvardmagazine.com. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Denne, By Scott (2012-10-01). "RISING STAR: Lightspeed's Vrionis Makes Name by Sticking to Business". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "Silicon Valley is awash in Chinese and Saudi cash — and no one is paying attention (except Trump)". Vox. 2019-05-01. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Temkin, Marina (2019-02-08). "John Vrionis on his unusual approach to venture capital". Venture Capital Journal. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "Searching for the next Zuckerberg: A day in the life of a Lightspeed Fellow". VentureBeat. 2013-09-08. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "Why these VCs started a new firm and what makes it 'unusual'". Silicon Valley Business Journal. American City Business Journals. 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "After selling his startup for a life-changing $3.7 billion, Jyoti Bansal launched a VC firm and two high-value startups. Why?". Fortune. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "John Vrionis - 2017-04-20 - 2017 Midas: Newcomers and Returnees". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "John Vrionis". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "The Seed 100: The best early-stage investors of 2024". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "John J. Vrionis Jr". Stanford Graduate School of Business. Retrieved 2025-07-10.