GitHub Cofounder on Becoming a VC: Five Questions With Tom Preston-Werner
By Hunter Walk
Tom Preston-Werner on now becoming a VC himself, and four other questions I asked him.
Early stage capital for technology founders
Ideas start with founders. Founders start with PWV.
PWV (Preston-Werner Ventures) provides early stage capital for technology founders building the future. The above selected portfolio is a non-exhaustive representation of investment highlights from PWV Fund I, the PWV Rolling Fund, and earlier investments by Tom Preston-Werner.
Terminal
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Message from Tom
"My goal, with every PWV investment, is to back ideas that truly create a differentiated future. Ideas that change the fundamental rules of what’s possible. Ideas that both embrace technology and celebrate people as the most important factor in the better future we want to build.
That's how I created and scaled GitHub to a $7.5B exit."
Tom Preston-Werner
General Partner, GitHub Cofounder
What Founders Say
"PWV is the fund you want on your cap table in the early days. They ask the right questions, help solve the hard challenges, and their support has been incredibly effective in setting us up for long-term success. The community they’ve built is a real unfair advantage—nothing I’ve found anywhere else."
Ralf Schonherr CEO & Co-founder, Myriad
"I found PWV to be one of the rare funds that took the time to deeply understand our market and strategy. Their team’s extensive experience in crafting exceptional products, fostering vibrant communities, and scaling successful businesses shines through in the unwavering passion they bring to supporting founders like me."
Pedro Piñera Buendía Co-founder, Tuist
"The PWV team has been super supportive on our journey. Always happy to help with advice, feedback, and intros, but never getting in the way and letting us run our race."
Matt Perrott CEO & Co-founder, BuildPass
"The PWV team just understands developer tools and the entire space. They're technical and strategic. They're ready to jump in to support, but also give us space to cook."
Dan Farrelly CTO and Cofounder, Inngest
"We love working with them because they're former founders who have built in the dev tools space and are super technical, which makes explaining complex technical concepts so much easier. Their expertise and partnership have made a huge difference."
Jessie Frazelle CEO and Founder, Zoo
"Tom, DT, and DP are all super helpful. Tom helped us navigate messaging, and DT jumped knee-deep in code and became a customer and friend I could depend on. In my book, that's extremely rare. That's why I recommend them."
Ahmad Awais CEO and Founder, Langbase
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