Sangeen Zeb grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, psychologically wrapped in Warren Buffett’s legend.
“I knew what investing in stocks was at a comically young age, hilariously young,” said Zeb. “I’m eight, my family has no money, and the local news is on: ‘Warren Buffett’s the richest man in the world, and he lives here.’ How did he make his money? Was it chemicals? Is he an inventor? Is it real estate? No, he bought stocks.”
Zeb, decades later, isn’t buying stocks, but he is an investor: Zeb joined Google Ventures (GV) in 2021 and is a general partner at the firm, investing in AI and enterprise companies.
“The most humbling thing is that, no matter how good I am at this job, I will never be the most famous investor from my small hometown,” Zeb jokes. “That brings me down a notch.”
His investments include some of the moment’s most sought-after (and hyped) startups, including OpenEvidence (last valued at $3.5 billion), Harvey (last valued at $5 billion), and Thinking Machines (valued at $12 billion after its seed fundraise). Zeb takes a four-pronged approach when looking at AI startups. You can frame them as questions. The first two are simple: Can the company be big and can that founder actually execute? The next two are more existential. He always asks himself: “If this person fails, would I turn around and hand them a check to go do something else the next day?” And, then, in recognition of just how fast-moving AI is at this point: Can these founders keep pace with the rate of technological change?
