Lee Hower

Co-founder and Partner·NextView Ventures

Boston area

Bio

Professional summary

Lee Hower is a co-founder and Partner at NextView Ventures. His official profile highlights early operating experience at PayPal, where he worked in product and business development through the company's IPO and sale to eBay. He later co-founded LinkedIn and led analytics, finance and operations teams during its early startup years. Before co-founding NextView, he began his venture capital career as a Principal at PJC, a Boston-based early-stage venture firm. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Management & Technology program with a BAS in Systems Engineering and a BS in Economics from Wharton.

Investment focus

Stage, sector, and overall fit

Stage

Pre-seedSeed

Sector

SoftwareInternetFintechMarketplacesConsumer internetData/analytics

Thesis

Early-stage startupsPre-seed and seed-stage companiesAI and software companies addressing mass-market human problemsInternet, marketplace, and network-effect businesses

Notable companies

Selected portfolio companies the partner has backed

PayPalLinkedInPJC

How to approach

Framing and angles for outreach

Pitch framing

Best fit for a pre-seed or seed company where the pitch benefits from deep operating credibility around networks, marketplaces, product, analytics, or early company scaling.

Partneralization hooks

1Reference his PayPal and LinkedIn early-operator background when discussing network effects, product-market fit, or startup scaling.
2Make the company-building lesson explicit rather than only pitching market size.