CB Insights has released its third annual list of the top venture capitalists in partnership with The New York Times.
The list was compiled based on the following factors:
- Investor’s Exits – the frequency/volume, size, and stage of investment entry.
- Illiquid Portfolio Company Value – frequency, size, and stage of investment entry in high value, but un-exited, companies (given less weight due to illiquidity).
- Recency of Performance – focus on metrics since 2009. This is a ranking of today’s best VCs — not the best VCs in history.
Benchmark partner Bill Gurley was ranked No. 1 on the list and he led the firm’s investment in Uber. Steve Anderson was No. 2 from Baseline Ventures. Joshua Kopelman from First Round Capital was No. 3. First Round was the first major investor in Uber in 2010 when it was valued at just $4 million. Today, Uber is valued at $68 billion and still privately held.
Here are the Top 20 venture capitalists from CB Insights and The New York Times:
| 1 |  |
Bill Gurley | Benchmark |
| 2 |  |
Steve Anderson | Baseline Ventures |
| 3 |  |
Joshua Kopelman | First Round Capital |
| 4 |  |
Alfred Lin | Sequoia Capital |
| 5 |  |
Brian Singerman | Founders Fund |
| 6 |  |
Jeffrey Jordan | Andreessen Horowitz |
| 7 |  |
Rob Hayes | First Round Capital |
| 8 |  |
Ravi Mhatre | Lightspeed Venture Partners |
| 9 |  |
Mary Meeker | Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers |
| 10 |  |
Jeremy Liew | Lightspeed Venture Partners |
| 11 |  |
Neil Shen | Sequoia Capital China |
| 12 |  |
Mitch Lasky | Benchmark |
| 13 |  |
Asheem Chandna | Greylock Partners |
| 14 |  |
Kirsten Green | Forerunner Ventures |
| 15 |  |
Aydin Senkut | Felicis Ventures |
| 16 |  |
Peter Fenton | Benchmark |
| 17 |  |
Danny Rimer | Index Ventures |
| 18 |  |
Robert Nelsen | ARCH Venture Partners |
| 19 |  |
Frederick Wilson | Union Square Ventures |
| 20 |  |
Neeraj Agrawal | Battery Ventures |
