David Lee

Background

David Lee is an American venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and cancer survivor who has been involved in early-stage investing for nearly two decades ¹². He was born on July 7 and is Korean American; his father invented the first fully automated fortune cookie machine ².

Lee earned a B.A. in physics from Johns Hopkins University, an M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University (as a National Science Foundation fellow), and a J.D. from NYU School of Law (Class of 1999) ¹²³.

At age 24, while at Stanford, Lee was diagnosed with Stage IV Hodgkin’s lymphoma ¹. After chemotherapy and radiation treatment, he achieved remission and successfully completed a five-year monitoring period by 1999 ¹². His cancer experience profoundly influenced his later investment focus on healthcare and biology ¹.

Lee began his career as a corporate attorney at technology law firms ¹⁴. He joined Google in 2003 as a founding member of Google’s New Business Development team, handling legal aspects of partnerships in video, media, content, and data sectors ¹². He then led business development at StumbleUpon prior to its acquisition by eBay in 2007 ¹⁴. Lee subsequently joined Steve Anderson’s Baseline Ventures, a seed-stage venture firm, before co-founding SV Angel with Ron Conway in 2007 ¹⁴⁵.

At SV Angel, Lee served as Managing Partner from approximately 2010 to 2015, overseeing deal sourcing and portfolio management ²⁵. In 2012, Ron Conway publicly stated that SV Angel was “David’s fund” ². During his tenure, Lee invested in companies including Airbnb, Twitter, Stripe, Dropbox, Pinterest, Snapchat, Slack, Coinbase, DoorDash, Oscar Health, Flatiron Health, and Climate Corporation ¹²⁵. Lee relocated with his family from Palo Alto to Los Angeles in December 2012 to be closer to his wife’s extended family, commuting to the Bay Area for work ².

Lee departed SV Angel on May 19, 2015, citing a desire to spend more time with his family and to pursue investment areas such as healthcare that did not align with SV Angel’s core strategy ²⁶. The departure was widely reported as acrimonious, with Conway telling fund investors that Lee had “breached his trust” ²⁶.

In 2016, Lee co-founded Refactor Capital with Zal Bilimoria (formerly at Andreessen Horowitz) and Rick Barber (formerly chief of staff at Nuna Health), closing a $50 million debut fund ⁵⁷. The firm focused on seed-stage investments in founders solving fundamental human problems, with particular emphasis on healthcare and biology ⁷⁸. In May 2019, Lee stepped back from the managing partner role and became Chairman, with Bilimoria becoming the sole general partner for Refactor’s $30 million Fund II ⁸⁹.

Lee joined Samsung Next in February 2021 as Executive Vice President and Head, leading Samsung Electronics’ corporate venture capital arm ¹⁰. Under his leadership, Samsung Next has made over 250 investments in AI, healthtech, blockchain, fintech, and frontier technologies ¹⁰.

Lee has been recognized on the Forbes Midas List (#82 in 2014, #84 in 2015) ², was named by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz as one of the “7 Most Powerful People in Technology You’ve Never Heard Of” in 2011 ¹⁴, and has been featured on Business Insider’s Silicon Valley 100 ¹. He serves on the board of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health (elected May 2012) and on advisory boards of the Stanford Entrepreneurship Society (ASES) and Harvard Project for Asian & International Relations (HPAIR) ²⁴.

Stated Thesis

Lee has publicly articulated his investment philosophy around several themes:

Lee has stated that he focuses on founders “solving fundamental human problems,” with particular interest in health and biology sectors ¹⁸. The concept behind Refactor Capital draws from the computer science term “refactoring” — making code more efficient without changing its function — applied to real-world industries ⁸.

Lee has emphasized the importance of market timing, stating that the best investment opportunities arise during periods of negative sentiment ⁵¹¹. He has also described his approach to evaluating founders as rooted in his legal training, noting that starting with facts rather than frameworks is similar to how engineers and scientists solve problems ³.

At Samsung Next, Lee has described the mandate as investing “in the best founders in areas that we care about,” with a focus on AI, healthtech, and frontier technologies ¹².

Inferred Thesis

The following analysis is based on David Lee’s verified investments across three career phases: SV Angel (2007-2015), Refactor Capital (2016-2019), and Samsung Next (2021-present).

Phase 1: SV Angel (2007-2015) — 15 verified personal investments

During his SV Angel tenure, Lee’s verified investments were predominantly consumer internet and enterprise software companies. Based on 15 verified investments where Lee is specifically credited: - Consumer internet/social: 5 of 15 (33%) — Twitter, Airbnb, Pinterest, Snapchat, DoorDash - Enterprise SaaS/fintech: 4 of 15 (27%) — Stripe, Slack, Coinbase, Flatiron Health - Consumer/media: 3 of 15 (20%) — Dropbox, Flipboard, Product Hunt - Healthcare: 2 of 15 (13%) — Oscar Health, Climate Corporation - Other: 1 of 15 (7%) — Foursquare

Note: Lee was part of the SV Angel team that invested in 400+ companies during this period. The above reflects investments where he is individually credited in sources; his involvement in other SV Angel deals is likely but unverifiable at the individual level.

Phase 2: Refactor Capital (2016-2019) — 17 verified investments

At Refactor, Lee’s focus shifted dramatically toward healthcare and biology. Based on 17 verified Fund I portfolio companies: - Healthcare/diagnostics: 6 of 17 (35%) — Clover Health, PathAI, Headspace, Notable Labs, Able Health, Renew Health - Biotech/genomics: 4 of 17 (24%) — Cofactor Genomics, Cambridge Cancer Genomics, Verge Genomics, TL Biolabs - Materials/manufacturing: 3 of 17 (18%) — Culture Biosciences, Checkerspot, Solugen - Hard tech/infrastructure: 2 of 17 (12%) — Astranis, Long Term Stock Exchange - Consumer wellness: 2 of 17 (12%) — Lucy, Kin Euphorics

Phase 3: Samsung Next (2021-present) — 7 verified personal investments

At Samsung Next, Lee oversees a broad portfolio with emphasis on AI and emerging tech. Based on 7 individually attributed investments: - AI/ML: 2 of 7 — Stability AI, MosaicML - Blockchain/crypto: 2 of 7 — LayerZero Labs, Hyperithm - Health/wellness: 1 of 7 — obé Fitness - Security: 1 of 7 — Mitiga - Consumer: 1 of 7 — The Plug Drink

Cross-phase patterns: - Lee’s personal investment interests shifted markedly from consumer internet (SV Angel era) to healthcare/biotech (Refactor era) to AI (Samsung Next era), tracking with both personal motivation (cancer survivorship) and market trends. - At Refactor, 59% of verified investments (10 of 17) were in healthcare or biotech, compared to 13% at SV Angel — a clear pivot driven by personal conviction. - Lee has consistently invested at the seed stage across all phases, though Samsung Next also deploys at Series A and B. - Geographic focus has been primarily US West Coast across all phases, consistent with his LA and Bay Area base.

Note: This analysis is based on 39 individually verified investments across three phases. Lee’s actual investment count is significantly higher — SV Angel alone backed 400+ companies during his tenure, and Samsung Next has made 250+ investments — but most cannot be individually attributed to Lee versus the broader team.

Portfolio

Note: Years marked with “~” are estimates. Lee was part of the SV Angel team that invested in 400+ companies from 2007-2015; only investments where he is individually credited are listed. Refactor Capital portfolio entries reflect Fund I (2016-2019) investments made during Lee’s active tenure as managing partner. Samsung Next entries reflect investments where Lee is individually credited; the unit has made 250+ total investments.

In Their Own Words

“I thought I wanted to be a professor. Then I went to law school. I was an awful attorney.” — David Lee, Corporate Venturing Insider podcast, Episode 83 ¹⁴

“For the really great companies, you don’t really do a lot. You would be smart just to get out of the way.” — David Lee, Corporate Venturing Insider podcast, Episode 83 ¹⁴

“Timing is everything.” — David Lee, Michael Redd interview ¹¹

“Don’t be afraid to think for yourself even if it is different.” — David Lee, Michael Redd interview ¹¹

“It’s this combination of beginner’s mind and prepared mind.” — David Lee, on evaluating founders, Fitt Insider podcast, Episode 131 ¹²

“The hard part, that it’s almost impossible to project is what happens when things aren’t going their way.” — David Lee, on founder evaluation, Fitt Insider podcast, Episode 131 ¹²

“We are the number one mobile footprint in the world in terms of phones available. Our mandate is really to invest in the best founders in areas that we care about.” — David Lee, on Samsung Next, Fitt Insider podcast, Episode 131 ¹²

“Lawyers are taught to start with the facts, not frameworks. This first principles–type of thinking is invaluable for investing and working through startup challenges.” — David Lee, NYU Law alumni profile ³

“Becoming Chairman will keep me involved with Refactor, and also allow me to spend more time in Los Angeles, work more closely with current Refactor portfolio founders and pursue new adventures.” — David Lee, Fortune Term Sheet, May 2019 ⁹

“Just because something is hard doesn’t mean it’s valuable.” — David Lee, citing Max Levchin, personal blog, daslee.me ¹⁵

“Success is a lousy teacher.” — David Lee, citing Bill Gates, personal blog, daslee.me ¹⁵

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found. Dedicated searches across Twitter/X, press coverage, podcast transcripts, and founder review platforms did not surface verifiable founder quotes about their experience working with David Lee specifically. Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz named Lee as one of the “7 Most Powerful People in Technology You’ve Never Heard Of” in 2011, and Andreessen has stated regarding Lee that you should “Name any interesting Silicon Valley startup and you will find that David is an investor and advisor” ¹⁴, but these are peer endorsements rather than founder testimonials.

Connections

• Co-founder, SV Angel (2007-2015) — alongside Ron Conway ²⁵
• Co-founder, Refactor Capital (2016-2019) — alongside Zal Bilimoria (ex-Andreessen Horowitz) and Rick Barber (ex-Nuna Health) ⁵⁷
• Head of Samsung Next (2021-present) — EVP at Samsung Electronics, alongside Brendon Kim (Head of Investments) ¹⁰
• Board member, Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health (elected May 2012) ²⁴
• Advisory board, Stanford Entrepreneurship Society (ASES) ⁴
• Advisory board, Harvard Project for Asian & International Relations (HPAIR) ⁴
• Fund Advisor, SparkLabs Korea ⁴
• Partner with Michael Bay, 451 Media Group (2015) — technology and media investments ²
• Frequent co-investors at SV Angel: Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, Baseline Ventures ⁵⁶
• Frequent co-investors at Refactor: Y Combinator, Social Capital, Fifty Years, BoxGroup, Kindred Ventures ⁸

Sources