Sutter Hill Ventures
Sutter Hill Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a U.S. state on the Pacific coast; its capital is Sacramento and its largest city is Los Angeles. California was admitted to the Union on September 9, 1850, as the 31st state. Its population at the 2020 Census (April 1, 2020) was 39,538,223, the largest of any state.Open the full entry. Founded in 1964, it is described by the Computer History Museum as the oldest venture firm on the West Coast. It was one of NVIDIANVIDIANVIDIA is an American semiconductor and computing technology company that provides graphics processing units, artificial intelligence infrastructure, networking interconnects, and computing software, and is listed on Nasdaq under the ticker NVDA.Open the full entry’s early investors, and its former managing director Tench CoxeTench CoxeTench Coxe is an American venture capitalist who was a managing director of Sutter Hill Ventures from 1989 to 2020, focusing on information technology investments. He has served on the NVIDIA board since 1993, making him one of its longest-serving directors.Open the full entry has served on NVIDIA’s board since 1993.
Contents6 sections
Key facts
1964Founding
The Computer History Museum’s catalog entry for Paul Wythes’s oral history says that in 1964, five years after graduating from StanfordStanford UniversityStanford University is a research university in California founded by Leland and Jane Stanford in 1885 and opened in 1891.Open the full entry’s business school, he founded and helped build Sutter Hill Ventures, which it calls the oldest venture firm on the West Coast and the backer of many of Silicon Valley’s most successful companies. Wythes also helped found the National Venture Capital Association in 1972.[1]
1969The Partnership Agreement
In a 2018 interview in Stanford Law SchoolStanford Law SchoolStanford Law School is Stanford University’s law school. Its law curriculum began in 1893, and it offers JD and advanced law degrees. Its alumni include technology-media entrepreneur Michael Arrington.Open the full entry’s magazine, lawyer James C. Gaither recalled that his first fund-formation job at Cooley was organizing Sutter Hill Ventures as a partnership, and that the partnership agreement he drafted in 1969 is still the one Sutter Hill’s partners use. Gaither has been a partner at Sutter Hill since 2000.[2]
1987–2020Tench Coxe’s Tenure
Artisan Partners’ 2024 proxy statement states that Tench Coxe joined Sutter Hill Ventures in 1987 from Digital Communications Associates in Atlanta and served as a managing director from 1989 to December 2020. NVIDIA’s board page describes him as a former managing director of Sutter Hill Ventures.[3][4]
1993Investing in NVIDIA
In his Computer History Museum oral history, Harvey C. JonesHarvey C. JonesHarvey C. Jones is an American entrepreneur and investor in electronic design automation who co-founded Daisy Systems in 1981, led Synopsys from 1987 to 1998 and co-founded Tensilica in 1997. An NVIDIA director since 1993, he became NVIDIA’s first-ever chair of the board on November 11, 2026.Open the full entry recalled that NVIDIA was founded by young engineers from Sun’s graphics group, raised money from Sutter Hill and Sequoia, and was encouraged by its investors to bring someone with operating experience onto its board, which led to his invitation to join in 1993. Gaither said in his 2018 interview that, working with Sutter Hill and Cooley, he helped companies including NVIDIA get their start.[5][2]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Sutter Hill Ventures: Address: 755 Page Mill Rd., Palo Alto. Official website: https://www.shv.com/ (opens in a new window).[6]
Sources
- Wythes, Paul oral history - 102740524 - CHM (opens in a new window)
- On Government Service, Silicon Valley and the Law: James C. Gaither, legendary Silicon Valley lawyer and VC, in conversation with Professor Robert Daines (opens in a new window)
- Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. 2024 Proxy Statement (Schedule 14A) (opens in a new window)
- Tench Coxe (opens in a new window)
- Oral History of Harvey Jones (opens in a new window)
- Sutter Hill Ventures (opens in a new window)