Byron Deeter is a leading investor in Cloud and AI at Bessemer Venture Partners. He co-authored Bessemer’s iconic 10 Laws of Cloud Computing, the annual State of the Cloud Report, the Bessemer Forbes Cloud 100, and BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index. Byron works closely alongside many of the best founders in the cloud world, with 26 of Byron’s investments currently valued above $1 billion, including a dozen IPOs and counting.
Byron first raised a Series A with Bessemer back in 2000, as CEO and founder of Trigo Technologies. His company grew to be one of the first global SaaS companies, reaching profitability and was successfully sold to IBM. Byron foresaw that cloud computing would not only change the way people built new technologies but also how The Cloud would systematically run the world. In 2005, Byron returned to Bessemer, this time to help lead the firm’s global cloud practice.
Byron graduated with honors from The University of California, Berkeley, where he met his then college sweetheart and now wife. Byron is a perennial Midas List investor, the Chairman of the National Venture Capital Association, and an active board member/advisor to numerous causes including the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation, Pledge 1% and Cal Rugby. Although he’s a four-time Rugby Collegiate National Champion and serial Ironman finisher, most of his exercise these days comes from trying to keep up with his wife and three children.
As a kid, Byron disassembled gadgets and toys, eager to understand their inner workings. This inquisitiveness blossomed into a passion for invention and led him to maintain a notebook of product ideas from first grade through his college years. While juggling jobs bagging grocery and hauling lumber, Byron was still able to find the time and energy to start neighborhood businesses in lawn care and house cleaning.
Team sports were instrumental in shaping Byron’s character and values. A football player in high school, he pivoted to playing rugby at UC Berkeley. As a freshman, he was on the C team where he lined the fields for the varsity games. Undeterred, he worked his way up to the starting lineup his senior year and ended up winning four national titles over the course of his college career. His experience instilled in him a deep appreciation for teamwork, a relentless work ethic, and Cal Rugby’s ethos for life: “Grateful for everything. Entitled to nothing.”
Drawing from his experience as a lifelong athlete and former entrepreneur, Byron knows firsthand the vital connection between personal wellness and peak performance. This insight inspired STRIVE, Bessemer’s holistic wellness program that helps entrepreneurs optimize their health, decision-making, and leadership capabilities.
Byron discovered his passion for venture capital and startups while at McKinsey. Recognizing the Internet’s burgeoning potential, he decided to turn down business school and instead co-found Trigo Technologies in 1999. The company pioneered the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model when it was still a foreign concept to most. Despite widespread skepticism from venture capitalists, Bessemer saw Trigo’s promise and backed its Series A. Under Byron’s leadership as CEO, Trigo was one of the first global cloud companies, achieving profitability before its acquisition by IBM. Byron’s vision for cloud computing came full circle in 2005 when he joined Bessemer to help spearhead their global cloud practice.
In 2010, back when many viewed Twilio as merely a tactical solution with a small market, Byron led their early financing. Despite Twilio’s initially shrinking revenue and the widespread industry skepticism, the company was able to scale beyond expectations under the visionary leadership of founder Jeff Lawson. Twilio’s successful IPO in 2016 was a significant milestone in its path to becoming the multi-billion dollar enterprise it is today.
Byron’s interest in developer platforms extended beyond Twilio., In 201, he backed SendGrid. The email platform company, led by then-CEO Sameer Dholakia, mirrored Twilio’s success, going public in 2017 and achieving billion-dollar status. In 2018, Twilio acquired SendGrid, uniting two transformative, multi-billion dollar public companies with two exceptional leaders.
What captivated Byron about ServiceTitan was the profound personal connection its founders had to the company’s mission. As Armenian Americans whose fathers worked in home services, Ara Mahdessian and Vahe Kuzoyan intimately understood the challenges faced by tradespeople — from predawn starts to late nights dealing with paperwork. Recognizing the potential in a vertical SaaS model for home services, Byron led ServiceTitan’s Series A in 2015, sealing the deal with a handshake and a memorable trip to Glendale for a due diligence session over Armenian BBQ. Nine years later, ServiceTitan supports nearly 12,000 trade customers and has a valuation in the billions. In December 2024, Byron celebrated ServiceTitan’s IPO with Ara, Vahe, and the incredible team.
AI research company that builds reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.
Canva is an online graphic design platform on a mission to simplify the process of graphic design for photographers, illustrators, and designers globally.
CopilotIQ of at-home medical care for people with high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease which uses monitoring technology, personalized care, and one-on-one weekly nurse calls.
Cornerstone OnDemand provides a comprehensive suite of talent-management solutions. Cornerstone OnDemand went public in March 2011 (NASDAQ: CSOD).
Courier is a single API platform with a no-code editor that enables teams to design and deliver user notifications to any channel.
DocuSign makes it easy and fast to get documents signed with the world's largest electronic signature platform. Docusign went public in April 2018 (NASDAQ: DOCU).
EvenUp turns medical docs and case files into AI-driven demand packages for injury lawyers.
Gainsight, the Customer Success company, helps businesses grow faster by reducing churn, increasing upsell, and driving customer advocacy. In November 2020, Gainsight was acquired by Vista Equity Partners.
HashiCorp enables organizations to provision, secure, and run any infrastructure for any application. HashiCorp went public in December 2021 (NASDAQ: HCP) and IBM announced it will acquire HashiCorp in 2024.
Intacct provides financial management services. Intacct was acquired by the Sage Group in July 2017.
Intercom develops customer messaging apps for sales, marketing, and support, connected on one platform.
LaunchDarkly is a feature management platform that enables software teams to build better software faster with less risk by decoupling the deployment of code from the release of features to users.
nCino is the worldwide leader in cloud banking. nCino went public in July 2020 (NASDAQ: NCNO).
Perplexity AI is an AI-chat-based conversational search engine that delivers answers to questions using language models.
productboard is the product management system that helps organizations get the right products to market, faster.
SendGrid is a proven, cloud-based customer communication platform that drives engagement and business growth. In 2017, SendGrid went public (NYSE: SEND) and was then acquired by Twilio (NYSE: TWLO) in 2018.
ServiceTitan provides a mobile, cloud-based management platform for home services businesses. ServiceTitan went public in December 2024 (NASDAQ: TTAN).
Sila Nanotechnologies manufactures advanced battery materials to accelerate the electric car revolution.
Twilio is a cloud communication company that enables users to use standard web languages to build voice, VoIP, and SMS apps via a web API. In June 2016, Twilio went public (NYSE: TWLO).
Yotpo is a commerce marketing cloud offering businesses customer reviews, visual marketing, loyalty, and referrals.
CNBC: Bessemer’s Byron Deeter talks movement in the IPO market
