The world's top VC officially announced: Eileen Gu joins.
A bombshell news came from Silicon Valley, instantly detonating the global public opinion field and the venture capital circle. Bill Gurley, a partner of the legendary VC firm Benchmark, personally confirmed through social media that this young woman, who is an Olympic champion, a Stanford academic elite, and a global celebrity, is about to officially join Benchmark as a Senior Associate.
It is reported that Eileen Gu will not take an honorary position this time. Instead, she will engage in front - line investment work on a full - time basis, deeply participate in project due diligence, transaction execution, and post - investment management, focusing on emerging sectors such as sports technology, artificial intelligence, and young consumer markets, which Benchmark has been focusing on in recent years. She will become one of the core members of the institution to link the Chinese and American markets and explore the potential of young sectors. Her start date is tentatively scheduled after the Milan Winter Olympics, and she has now entered the pre - preparation stage.
Eileen Gu Crosses Over into VC
The news of Eileen Gu's crossover into the VC field is still fermenting in the venture capital circle.
Previously, Bill Gurley, a partner of Benchmark, personally confirmed the major news that this Olympic champion will officially join this legendary Silicon Valley VC firm as a Senior Associate. This has broken all external predictions about her career path and made the venture capital circle full of curiosity and controversy about this 22 - year - old cross - over figure.
Different from the spotlight on the sports field, the evaluations in the venture capital circle are always practical. When the two seemingly unrelated labels of "Olympic champion" and "Senior Associate" are combined, doubts and approvals emerge simultaneously: Why would Benchmark offer a core position to a young person without a financial background, skipping the junior position? Is Eileen Gu's crossover just a boost of celebrity - driven traffic, or a rational choice of Benchmark based on her comprehensive abilities?
The answer lies in the details of the event itself.
The outside world generally defines Eileen Gu's crossover as a "hobby - like" attempt. The core doubts focus on whether her non - financial and non - business major background, along with her 22 - year - old age, qualify her for the position of Senior Associate.
However, returning to the core of the event, Benchmark's choices are never blindly following the trend. This top - tier VC firm, known for its precise investments and low - key practicality, has never had a precedent of hyping with celebrity traffic. Every talent layout of it conforms to its own investment strategy. And Eileen Gu's value does not lie in the halo of "Olympic champion", but in the core qualities in her resume that are suitable for the VC industry. This is also the key for her to skip the junior training and directly enter the senior rank.
The freestyle skiing field has always been a game where risks and opportunities coexist. Every jump is accompanied by unknown risks, and every choice of movement is related to the final outcome. Especially at the critical moment of the finals, one needs to make the right decision in milliseconds. One should dare to challenge high - difficulty movements and also know how to avoid unnecessary risks. This thinking of "pursuing maximum returns in the face of risks" coincides with the essence of VC investment.
The academic accumulation at Stanford University has given her more confidence for this crossover. As a world - class higher education institution, Stanford University not only has strong academic strength but also has bred countless technology giants and entrepreneurial elites. The surrounding Silicon Valley is the core area of the global venture capital circle. The strong innovation and investment atmosphere have allowed Eileen Gu to have the opportunity to be exposed to cutting - edge technologies and business thinking since childhood. Many people outside wonder why Benchmark favors her, considering her majors in psychology and East Asian studies, which are non - financial and non - business fields?
In fact, venture capital is never just a simple number game, but a profound insight into people, trends, and human nature. This is exactly where Eileen Gu's advantage lies.
Her accumulation in East Asian studies enables her to better understand the cultural differences between the East and the West and market pain points. For Benchmark, which focuses on global layout and has paid special attention to the Chinese market in recent years, this is undoubtedly a valuable and scarce ability.
In addition, Eileen Gu's global network and her keen perception of emerging trends have also become important chips for her to stand out.
Being active on the international stage all year round, she has not only met elites in the sports and fashion industries but also had the opportunity to contact the world's top entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists. These network resources allow her to enter the venture capital circle more quickly and obtain high - quality project information.
As a youth idol in the new era, she has a natural sensitivity to the consumption trends and interests of young people. Especially in fields such as sports technology, fashion technology, and AI applications, she can accurately capture potential investment opportunities. These fields are also the key directions that Benchmark has been focusing on in recent years.
How Important is the Position of Senior Associate?
To truly understand the significance of Eileen Gu's joining, one must understand the positioning of the Senior Associate position in the VC system. In mainstream global VC firms, the investment positions are generally divided into the following levels: Associate, Senior Associate, Vice President (VP), Managing Director (MD), and Partner. Among them, the Senior Associate is in a core position and is the key link between partners and front - line projects. Its value far exceeds what the outside world imagines.
Different from junior associates who need to start from basic data collection, due - diligence assistance, and industry report writing, Senior Associates do not need to start from the bottom. They can directly and deeply participate in project screening, industry analysis, due diligence, and post - investment management. They can even independently be responsible for the follow - up and judgment of some early - stage small projects and provide professional investment suggestions to partners. They are an indispensable core force in VC firms. In the venture capital circle, it is very rare for such a young person to reach this position.
Looking at top - tier global VC firms, those who can get this position at the age of 22 are either elites with a business background from top - tier universities and years of internship experience in investment banks or startups, or geniuses with high - quality project resources or special industry backgrounds.
Occasionally, there are exceptions, and most of them need to rely on the guidance of professional partners to gradually accumulate experience. For example, Andre Iguodala, an NBA star, also needed to cooperate with a professional investment team and start from basic project learning when he transitioned to the VC field after retirement. However, Eileen Gu got the Senior Associate position as soon as she entered the field without starting from the bottom, which shows Benchmark's high recognition of her comprehensive strength and also proves that her confidence for this crossover is not unfounded.
The outside world's doubts have never stopped. Some people think that her joining is just a marketing strategy for Benchmark to increase exposure and attract traffic. Others believe that she lacks professional financial knowledge and investment experience and is difficult to be competent for this position. However, objectively speaking, Benchmark has never been an institution that pursues traffic. Since its establishment nearly 30 years ago, it has always been known for "precise investment and low - key practicality" and has never had a precedent of hyping with celebrity traffic.
The Legendary Benchmark,
Can it Create More Miracles with Eileen Gu?
Benchmark, which makes Eileen Gu determined to join and is willing to break the rules for her, is itself a legend in the venture capital circle. This top - tier Silicon Valley VC firm, founded in 1995, dominates the industry with a "small and refined" model. It refuses large - scale fundraising, adheres to equal decision - making by partners, and does not pursue the maximization of managed funds. However, it has created numerous amazing investment myths and has become the "benchmark" in the global venture capital circle. Its name "Benchmark" has long become a synonym for "high - quality investment".
From the perspective of the industry landscape, Benchmark's development model is highly recognizable. Different from the "broad - casting and multi - layout" strategies of global giants such as Sequoia Capital and Hillhouse Capital, it always adheres to the investment concept of "less but better", focusing on early - stage technology projects, and every investment portfolio involves all the efforts of partners.
In its investment portfolio, a number of technology giants that have changed the world have emerged: By investing in Uber, it has received more than 50 times the return and witnessed the rise of the sharing economy; By investing in Twitter (now X), it has accompanied it from a startup team to a global top - tier social media platform, rewriting the way people communicate; By investing in Instagram, it achieved a $1 billion exit in just two years, becoming a classic case in the history of VC investment; By investing in Zoom, it experienced explosive growth during the pandemic and became a core tool for global remote work, profoundly affecting the global workplace ecosystem. In addition, it has also invested in well - known companies such as Dropbox, Slack, and Coinbase. Every investment is a benchmark in the industry, and every project has brought about subversive changes in its respective field.
Behind these myths is Benchmark's powerful partner team, and Bill Gurley is the soul figure among them. As a core partner of Benchmark, he has always ranked high on Forbes' "Midas List" (the list of the world's top investors) and is regarded as one of the "godfathers of Silicon Valley investment". In the venture capital circle, the name Bill Gurley means "precision" and "foresight".
All along, Benchmark has been known for focusing on the Silicon Valley local market. Its investment portfolio consists almost entirely of American local companies, rarely involving Chinese - founded teams or the Chinese market.
Before 2020, there were almost no projects with Chinese backgrounds in its public investment cases, and there were even few layouts targeting the Asian market. From 2020 to 2023, affected by the Sino - US technology situation, the global venture capital market was in a slump, and the remarks of Sino - US "decoupling" emerged one after another. Bill Gurley also publicly warned of the danger of Sino - US "decoupling", believing that it would damage the development of the global technology industry. During this period, Benchmark's investment strategy became more conservative, and it basically did not add new investments in Chinese - founded projects, still focusing on early - stage technology projects in the United States.
However, since 2024, Benchmark's investment strategy has quietly undergone a major change, showing unprecedented enthusiasm for high - quality projects with Chinese backgrounds. The core driving force for this change is the explosion of the AI wave and the rise of China's technological strength. In 2024, the global AI industry witnessed explosive growth. Artificial intelligence technology began to be widely applied in various fields, becoming the core driving force for global technological progress and economic development. As one of the countries with the fastest - growing AI in the world, China has a huge market demand, excellent technology teams, and a complete industrial chain. A number of globally competitive AI companies have emerged, and these companies have gradually become the focus of Benchmark's attention.
In June 2024, Benchmark led a $60 million financing round of HeyGen, an AI video technology company that originated in Shenzhen and later moved to Los Angeles, USA. Focusing on the R & D and application of AI digital humans and AI video generation technology, HeyGen has become a dark horse in the AI video field with its leading technological strength. In this financing round, Benchmark contributed $55 million out of the total $60 million, becoming the largest institutional investor, which shows its high level of attention to HeyGen. It is reported that after receiving Benchmark's investment, HeyGen quickly expanded its global market. Its AI digital human technology has been widely applied in fields such as live - streaming, film and television, and education, and its valuation has doubled within a year.
In 2025, Benchmark made another move, leading a $75 million financing round of Manus, an AI company founded by a Chinese team, at a valuation of $500 million. The leading investment amount accounted for the majority of the $75 million financing. Manus focuses on the R & D of agent technology. Its core products can achieve multi - task automatic execution, intelligent interaction, and decision - making, with broad application prospects in fields such as office automation and industrial manufacturing. It is worth noting that, similar to HeyGen, Manus has also carried out a global layout. It registered its main body in Singapore as early as August 2023 and is wholly - owned by an entity with the same name in the Cayman Islands. This layout not only meets the compliance requirements of the United States but also facilitates the acquisition of global computing power and data resources.
A Thirty - Year Inheritance of VC Genes
When people are amazed by Eileen Gu's courage and confidence to cross over into the venture capital circle, few people know that her bond with the VC industry has been engraved in her genes since childhood. Her mother, Gu Yan, is one of the pioneers of the early VC industry in China, a legendary woman who has been deeply involved in Wall Street and the Chinese venture capital circle.
Gu Yan was born in Beijing in the 1960s. During her undergraduate years, she studied at the Department of Chemistry at Peking University and graduated with excellent grades. At the age of 22, she went to the United States to study and was finally admitted to the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, obtaining an MBA degree. She became one of the few Chinese women with dual - elite backgrounds from Peking University and Stanford University at that time.
In the 1990s, the risk - investment industry in China was still in its infancy, and most people knew nothing about the concepts of "VC" and "venture capital". However, Gu Yan, with her keen business sense, was among the first to step into this field and became one of the earliest people to engage in VC in China.
In 1993, Gu Yan went to Wall Street and interned in the investment banking department of Lehman Brothers. At that time, Wall Street was the core area of global financial capital, gathering the world's top financial elites, and the competition was extremely fierce. For a Chinese woman, it was even more difficult to establish a footing on Wall Street.
However, with her solid professional knowledge, hard - working attitude, and extraordinary ability, Gu Yan participated in arranging a $200 million loan for China within just four months, helping Chinese enterprises solve their capital problems. This case not only became a classic example of Chinese enterprises' financing on Wall Street at that time but also made Gu Yan stand out on Wall Street, allowing more people to see the strength of this Chinese woman.
After the internship, Gu Yan chose to stay on Wall Street and joined a banker's investment company. There, she further accumulated rich investment experience and industry resources and successfully completed transactions worth $1.3 billion. With her excellent performance, she firmly established herself on Wall Street and became one of the few Chinese female investment elites on Wall Street at that time.
In 1994, she resolutely gave up the generous treatment on Wall Street and cooperated with American venture - capital experts to establish a US technology investment company, focusing on investing in China's high - tech industry and actively introducing foreign advanced technologies and management experience to support the development of Chinese technology enterprises.
Three years later, Gu Yan took the lead in establishing Orient Well - Best International Information Technology Co., Ltd. This company became one of the earliest Chinese enterprises to introduce the US venture - capital mechanism, focusing on the investment and incubation in the information - technology field. At that time, she was very popular in the venture - capital circle. With her precise investment vision, she invested in many high - quality Chinese technology projects. At the same time, she also actively mobilized a large number of overseas Chinese talents to return to China to start businesses, aiming to build China's "Silicon Valley" and contribute to China's technological development.
In an era when the Chinese VC industry was almost blank, Gu Yan's efforts not only brought valuable capital support to Chinese technology enterprises but also introduced advanced investment concepts and management models, laying the foundation for the development of the Chinese VC industry and making her one of the pioneers of the Chinese VC industry.
Perhaps, during Eileen Gu's growth process, Gu Yan never deliberately guided her to enter the venture - capital circle, but the VC genes in her mother have been deeply engraved in her.