Greylock is a high-conviction, lead-oriented venture firm that specializes in backing software companies from Day One, often before code or revenue. The firm is especially focused on AI-first startups across enterprise software, infrastructure, security, consumer, marketplaces, and fintech, and prefers founders pursuing venture-scale outcomes with a credible path to distribution.
Greylock’s partnership philosophy starts “from Day One,” often at the concept stage. They invest before revenue or code, prioritizing the founder’s insight, ambition, and a venture‑scale opportunity. Partners consistently stress the primacy of team and distribution: former GP Sarah Guo says, “At the Series A, I’m betting on the early team more than anything else,” and Greylock “obsess[es] about distribution as much as product.” Reid Hoffman underscores contrarian conviction: “To achieve real success, you need to be contrarian and right.” On market and traction, Greylock expects clear evidence of a significant problem and a credible go‑to‑market path; internal advisors emphasize leading‑indicator frameworks (“When you try to do everything at once, you drive standards down”). A common filter is venture‑scale ambition; they state they are “appropriate only for founders with venture‑scale ambitions.” Deal‑breakers include unfocused GTM, vague customer problem, or insufficient leading indicators of repeatable sales motion.
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