Kevin joined in 2003 and focuses on software and consumer investments. Prior to Accel, he founded Corio, a SaaS pioneer that went public and was later acquired by IBM. He also built and served as the first CEO of IronPlanet, a heavy equipment marketplace. He is from the Chicago area and graduated from Stanford.
Get to know Kevin
What was your first job?
My first real operating job was in 1997 as a junior product manager at Zip2, Elon Musk's first company. We were the same age, and I remember a few late-night arguments about his product ideas that I found insane due to their cost and complexity. Time proved him mostly right back then, so I wasn't surprised when he took on electric cars and rockets. We didn't discuss politics, though!
What’s the most impactful piece of advice you’ve received?
When I was an entrepreneur, Vinod Khosla once told me the most important lesson for an entrepreneur is to know who to take advice from because virtually any a**hole will offer it. Of course, Vinod meant I should listen to *him* more than others, but the point was sound. Calibrate advice based on the biases and experiences of those giving it, and remember that you usually have more data than your advisors. Only change course if the advice leads to something you previously missed. As they say, at breakfast, the chicken (advisor) is involved, but the pig (you) is committed.
What's something people are surprised to learn about you?
In 2012 our family took a yearlong sabbatical in South Africa, Brazil, and Japan. This led to investing deeply in Latam ever since (companies like Quinto Andar, Gympass, Nuvemshop, and Flash), and a family foundation focused on youth leadership development to grow new leaders for some of these countries starting with high schoolers. The work has led to the development of Kenya's youngest senator, Lesotho's youngest MP, and several new organizations (Latin American Leadership Academy, African Leadership for Governance, Project Wayfinder, and many others).
