Legendary VC Bill Gurley opens up about stepping back from Benchmark and his next act | Fortune

"“My wife and I have been talking about this for 25 years. It wasn't a statement. I wasn't making a huge California-Texas thing. Others were, and I didn't want to get caught up in that. I literally did not want to be a part of that narrative, because it wasn't the reason why,” Gurley told me as we met for coffee, sitting across from one another in a red booth next to a picture on the wall with the words “we are all bums on strike.”"

"Gurley rarely gives interviews these days, but he sat with me for over an hour and opened up about both leaving San Francisco a year and a half ago and stepping back at Benchmark, one of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture capital firms, where he spent more than two decades backing the likes of Uber, Grubhub, Zillow, Stitch Fix, Vudu, and a host of other companies. (Gurley excluded himself from Benchmark's tenth fund in 2020 though he still serves as a partner of previous funds, attends Benchmark meetings, and holds 10 board seats)"

"But ever since Gurley and his wife, Amy, quietly sold their home in San Francisco and moved into a skyscraper in downtown Austin, Tex., he's enjoyed more anonymity than usual. And his move back to Texas, where he and his wife are originally from, has largely gone unnoticed until I heard his name thrown around a couple times last week during a trip to Austin and some journalistic sleuthing revealed he had purchased a place. That subtlety, he says, was by design."

Bill Gurley, a prominent venture capitalist, relocated from San Francisco to a downtown Austin skyscraper with his wife, Amy, seeking more anonymity. He said the move was not meant as a public statement and that he avoided framing it as a California-versus-Texas narrative. Gurley rarely gives interviews, but met for coffee to explain leaving San Francisco about a year and a half earlier and stepping back at Benchmark, where he spent more than two decades investing in major companies. He excluded himself from Benchmark’s tenth fund in 2020 while continuing as a partner of previous funds, attending meetings, and holding board seats. He also described his portfolio companies and their relevance.

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