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Key people at Preston-Werner Ventures.
Preston-Werner Ventures (PWV) is a venture capital firm providing early-stage capital to technology founders. The firm identifies and backs category-defining companies from initial stages through breakout growth. PWV invests in ideas leveraging technology to forge a differentiated future, emphasizing innovative solutions and the vital role of people in that vision.
The firm was founded by Tom Preston-Werner, recognized for co-founding and successfully scaling GitHub. His direct experience as a technical founder informed PWV's core insight: to support entrepreneurs whose ideas fundamentally reshape their industries. This pedigree allows the firm to offer nuanced guidance to early-stage technology companies.
PWV primarily targets early-stage technology entrepreneurs building impactful products. The firm's vision is to cultivate a portfolio of companies achieving substantial market influence while championing a progressive outlook, merging technological advancement with human-centered principles. They aim to be an indispensable partner, with strategic assistance and a founder-first approach.
Key people at Preston-Werner Ventures.
# Preston-Werner Ventures: Building the Venture Firm Founders Deserve
Preston-Werner Ventures (PWV) is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm led by GitHub co-founder Tom Preston-Werner that focuses on early-stage technology investments, particularly in pre-seed and seed-stage companies[1][5]. The firm's mission centers on being "the smartest money a founder ever takes," combining financial capital with hands-on operational expertise, peer-to-peer support, and access to a robust founder network[1][2].
The investment philosophy emphasizes founder-centric decision-making and community orientation. Rather than viewing investments as purely financial transactions, PWV positions itself as a partner in the founder's journey, leveraging Preston-Werner's thirteen years of angel investing experience across over 175 startups[1]. The firm targets software and AI-driven companies where real-world operational experience can meaningfully accelerate timelines and help founders avoid costly mistakes[1]. PWV's primary focus areas include developer tools (often open-source), the RedwoodJS ecosystem, and emerging opportunities in AI adjacent to developer infrastructure and climate technology[2].
Tom Preston-Werner's investment journey began over a decade ago through angel investing, during which he deployed approximately $10 million annually across 40+ companies by 2022[2]. His portfolio includes some of the most successful early-stage bets in recent tech history: Stripe, Cursor, Netlify, Snyk, Supabase, PlanetScale, and Retool[1]. This track record of identifying category-defining companies at their earliest stages provided the foundation for formalizing his investment approach.
In October 2025, Preston-Werner announced the evolution of his investing vehicle into PWV Fund I, a formal venture fund targeting $100 million in capital[1]. This transition from individual angel investing to a structured fund represents a natural progression—scaling his successful methodology while enabling other investors to participate alongside him. The fund launched in May 2025 and is managed by a team of active founder-operators including General Partners David Thyresson and David S. Price, alongside Preston-Werner[4].
The firm's competitive advantage stems from its team composition: active founders and operators rather than traditional venture capitalists. This background enables PWV to provide tactical, experience-based guidance on problems that early-stage founders actually face—from product-market fit challenges to fundraising strategy[2].
With over 150 active companies across various maturity stages in its extended portfolio, PWV creates a knowledge-sharing ecosystem where portfolio companies learn from each other[1]. This network effect amplifies the value of each investment beyond capital alone, creating peer-to-peer learning opportunities and potential partnership synergies.
Unlike many seed-stage investors who exit after initial rounds, PWV actively participates in follow-on funding rounds, helping portfolio companies raise from top-tier VC firms and increasing the probability of successful exits[2]. This commitment signals confidence and provides continuity through critical growth phases.
The firm operates within the ecosystems where it invests, often identifying problems it encounters firsthand. Preston-Werner's creation of RedwoodJS, an application framework used by startups, exemplifies this approach—the firm invests in solutions to problems its own tools and experience reveal[2].
PWV operates at a critical inflection point in venture capital: the democratization of founder support and the professionalization of seed-stage investing. Traditionally, access to experienced founder-operators at the seed stage was limited to those with personal connections to successful entrepreneurs. By formalizing this model into a fund structure, PWV is making founder-focused, operationally-intensive support available to a broader cohort of early-stage companies.
The firm's emphasis on developer tools and AI infrastructure reflects broader market trends. As software development becomes increasingly central to every industry, tools that improve developer productivity and enable AI integration represent fundamental infrastructure plays. PWV's positioning in this space—backed by Preston-Werner's credibility in the developer community—gives it outsized influence in shaping which tools and platforms become category standards.
Additionally, PWV's inclusion of climate technology as an emerging focus area signals recognition that venture capital's role is expanding beyond pure software returns. This reflects a maturing ecosystem where successful founders increasingly seek to solve meaningful problems alongside building valuable companies.
Preston-Werner Ventures represents a maturation of the founder-investor relationship. Rather than the traditional venture model where capital flows one direction and advice flows another, PWV embodies a more collaborative partnership model—one that recognizes founders as the primary value creators and positions the firm as an enabler of their success.
Looking forward, PWV's influence will likely extend beyond its direct portfolio. As the firm demonstrates that founder-operator-led investing outperforms traditional models, it may catalyze a broader shift in how seed-stage capital is deployed. The firm's success in helping portfolio companies reach breakout scale will validate its thesis that early-stage companies benefit more from operational guidance and founder community than from capital alone.
The $100 million fund size positions PWV as a meaningful player in seed-stage investing without the institutional constraints of mega-funds. This scale allows for both meaningful check sizes and genuine founder relationships—a sweet spot for driving outsized returns while maintaining the founder-centric culture that defines the firm's identity. As AI and developer tools continue reshaping the technology landscape, PWV's deep expertise in these domains positions it to back the next generation of category-defining companies.
