The State48 Ventures team is made up of two investors from established funds with over 40 years of investing history and over $1.5 billion of capital deployed. One of our partners is an established technology executive who held senior technical roles at Google and Uber and hired and managed over 1,000 engineers during his tenure.
Co-founder and Managing Director
Warren Lee
Hometown:
Burlington, VT
Education:
BAS in Computer Science and Economics at Stanford University; MBA in Finance at The Wharton School of Business
What was your first job:
Spent a summer as a busboy at Chinese restaurant in Houston. Pay was lousy, but food was terrific and unlimited. Grew 3 inches that summer and added 12 pounds.
Favorite food:
Pasta of any kind. If it’s a noodle, I’ll eat it.
Favorite place besides Phoenix:
Kalymnos, Greece
Where can people find you doing on the weekends:
Either on a mountain bike or rock climbing something.
What do you look for in founders:
Passion with a certain level of self-awareness.
What important lesson have you learned as an investor:
Investing in a startup is like a mini-marriage, so make sure there is a good fit and open dialogue.
Never leave home without:
Underwear
Favorite kind of music:
Latin music
Favorite tech gadget:
Nanit baby monitor
Co-founder and Managing Director
Kenneth Sawyer
Hometown:
Burlington, VT
Education:
BS Engineering at Stanford University; MBA at Stanford University Graduate School of Business
What was your first job:
Spent a summer as a busboy at Chinese restaurant in Houston. Pay was lousy, but food was terrific and unlimited. Grew 3 inches that summer and added 12 pounds.
Favorite food:
Pasta of any kind. If it’s a noodle, I’ll eat it.
Favorite place besides Phoenix:
Kalymnos, Greece
Where can people find you doing on the weekends:
Either on a mountain bike or rock climbing something.
What do you look for in founders:
Passion with a certain level of self-awareness.
What important lesson have you learned as an investor:
Investing in a startup is like a mini-marriage, so make sure there is a good fit and open dialogue.
Never leave home without:
Underwear
Favorite kind of music:
Latin music
Favorite tech gadget:
Nanit baby monitor
Co-founder and Managing Director
Kevin Thompson
Hometown:
Burlington, VT
Education:
BA at University of Virginia; MS in Computer Science from University of California Irvine
What was your first job:
Spent a summer as a busboy at Chinese restaurant in Houston. Pay was lousy, but food was terrific and unlimited. Grew 3 inches that summer and added 12 pounds.
Favorite food:
Pasta of any kind. If it’s a noodle, I’ll eat it.
Favorite place besides Phoenix:
Kalymnos, Greece
Where can people find you doing on the weekends:
Either on a mountain bike or rock climbing something.
What do you look for in founders:
Passion with a certain level of self-awareness.
What important lesson have you learned as an investor:
Investing in a startup is like a mini-marriage, so make sure there is a good fit and open dialogue.
Never leave home without:
Underwear
Favorite kind of music:
Latin music
Favorite tech gadget:
Nanit baby monitor