Education
Shah graduated from Harvard University with a Masters in Economic Development and Strategy in 2008.
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Semil Shah
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He is a venture adviser to GGV Capital and Bullpen Capital, and also serves on the advisory boards for StrictlyVC and The Alpha Network. As a writer, Shah has contributed to TechCrunch as a weekly columnist, and as the creator of one of their video series. The series, In the Studio, featured interviews with leaders in the fields of technology, startups, and investment.
From 2009 to 2010, Shah was also a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review.
Shah was listed as one of the 55 Unknown Rock Stars In Technical by tech venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, and has served as a commentator on Bloomberg television
Entrepreneur
In 2009, Shah began his entrepreneurial career when he helped found MegaCell Therapeutics, a life sciences company in Boston. In 2011, Shah was the Head of Operations for Rexly, a web service that allows users to play music from their iTunes library and share them on Twitter or Facebook.
Shah additionally served as an adviser to the company, and helped guide it in its acquisition by Live Nation in July 2012. In 2013, Shah was one of the first employees at Swell Radio, a mobile radio streaming app that learned user preferences based on listening behavior.
Shah was involved in mobile product development, marketing, and distribution.
In July 2014, the app was acquired by Apple for $30 million. Venture capitalist
Notably, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers was named one of the "largest and most established" venture capital firms by The Wall Street Journal, as they were early investors in such companies as Google, Amazon, and America Online. As a consultant, Shah provided input on deal evaluation, due diligence, and marketing. In 2013, Shah founded Haystack, an investment firm based in Palo Alto, California that focuses on early-stage technology ventures.
The firm has invested in over 70 companies, including Giphy, Doordash, and Instacart, which currently have a valuation of $80 million, $600 million, and $2 billion respectively.
Additionally, Shah is a venture advisor to GGV Capital and Bullpen Capital, and also serves on the advisory boards for StrictlyVC and The Alpha Network. Media
From 2009 to 2010, Shah contributed to Harvard Business Review, where he wrote about entrepreneurship, international business, and economics.
From January 2011 to April 2014, Shah was a weekly contributor to TechCrunch. His column, Iterations, focused on market trends and product analysis.
At TechCrunch, Shah also created and hosted a web video series, In the Studio, that featured interviews with leaders in the fields of technology, startups, and investment.
Guests included Patrick Collison of Stripe, Mike Maples of Floodgate Fund, and Hiten Shah of Kissmetrics. As of July 2015, Shah continues to write about the tech industry on his personal blog, Haywire. In January 2015, Shah was invited as a guest on Bloomberg television to provide his thoughts on the sharing economy and Instacart"s growth.
