Nick Hanauer

Co-Founder & Partner at Second Avenue Partners

Reviewed Updated Mar 18, 2026

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Second Avenue Partners co-founder; early Amazon investor ($45K → $100M+). Seattle-based seed-Series A investor with 30% software/SaaS focus. Portfolio: aQuantive ($6.4B to Microsoft), Insitu ($400M to Boeing), Juno Therapeutics ($9B to Celgene). Values deep domain expertise; hands-on partner meeting weekly with CEOs. $500K-$3M checks.

Location Seattle, WA

Check Size $500K-$3M

Last Verified Investment Knack (Series A) — Nov 19, 2021

Social @NickHanauer LinkedIn

Stage Focus

seed series-a

Sector Focus

enterprise e-commerce digital-media climate biotech aerospace

Background

Nicolas Joseph Hanauer was born on September 2, 1959, to a secular Jewish family in New York City and raised in Bellevue, Washington ¹². His brother is Adrian Hanauer, a majority owner of Seattle Sounders FC and minority owner of the Seattle Kraken ¹. After earning a philosophy degree from the University of Washington, Hanauer joined the family-owned Pacific Coast Feather Company, where he served as co-chair and CEO ¹². The Hanauer family’s involvement in the feather and pillow business dates back to 1884, when his great-great-grandfather Joseph Hanauer founded Cannstatter Bed Feather Company in Stuttgart, Germany; the family relocated to Seattle fleeing Nazi Germany in the 1930s–1940s ³. Under Nick’s leadership, Pacific Coast Feather grew significantly as a branded consumer products company before the family sold it in 2018 ³.

In the 1990s, Hanauer became the first non-family investor in Amazon.com in 1995, investing $45,000 and serving as a Board Advisor until January 2000 ¹²⁴. That initial investment appreciated to over $100 million upon sale ². He founded gear.com, which eventually merged with Overstock.com ¹. He also founded Avenue A Media, which became aQuantive, Inc., and served as its CEO ¹². aQuantive was acquired by Microsoft in August 2007 for $6.4 billion, the largest acquisition in Microsoft history at the time ¹².

In February 2000, Hanauer co-founded Second Avenue Partners, a Seattle-based venture capital firm, alongside Pete Higgins (former Microsoft executive), Mike Slade, and Keith Grinstein (who passed away in September 2008) ⁵⁶. The firm provides management, strategy, and capital for early-stage companies, with investments across internet, consumer and social media, software, and clean energy ⁵⁶.

Beyond business, Hanauer is a prominent political activist focused on economic inequality. He co-founded Civic Ventures, a public policy incubator in Seattle ⁴. He hosts the podcast “Pitchfork Economics” with David Goldstein, launched in December 2018 ². He co-authored two books: “The True Patriot” and “The Gardens of Democracy” ⁴. He played a key role in passing the first $15 minimum wage law in SeaTac, Washington in 2013, and served on Seattle’s Income Inequality Advisory Group that led to Seattle’s $15 minimum wage ordinance in 2014 ¹. He also co-founded the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility and the League of Education Voters ¹.

Stated Thesis

Hanauer has described himself as “a proud and unapologetic capitalist” who has “founded, cofounded or funded over 30 companies across a range of industries” ⁷. Second Avenue Partners publicly states that it invests in “promising teams and transformational ideas in a wide range of areas including the internet, consumer and social media, software, and clean energy” ⁵.

According to a profile of the firm’s investment approach, Second Avenue Partners emphasizes hands-on management support rather than passive investing, with partners meeting weekly with portfolio company CEOs to address strategic challenges including hiring, pricing, product development, and financial management ⁶. The firm is described as being “comfortable with people who have deep domain expertise,” willing to support founders who may lack certain management disciplines while bringing industry specialization ⁶.

The firm’s typical initial investment has been approximately $1 million per deal, focused on early-stage companies in the Greater Puget Sound area ⁶. This regional focus is a consistent feature of their stated approach — the firm operates as a deeply Seattle-centric investor.

On the broader purpose of entrepreneurship, Hanauer has stated publicly that the economy functions as an ecosystem rather than being driven by individual “job creators.” In his 2019 TED Talk, he stated: “It isn’t capital that creates economic growth, it’s people; and it isn’t self-interest that promotes the public good, it’s reciprocity; and it isn’t competition that produces our prosperity, it’s cooperation” ⁷.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 20 verified investments where Hanauer’s or Second Avenue Partners’ involvement is documented; the sample represents roughly half of the firm’s reported 39 total investments.

Sector distribution: Software/SaaS (6 of 20, 30%: Market Leader, Azaleos, Seeq, Knock, Uplevel, Iota Software), digital media/advertising (3 of 20, 15%: aQuantive/Avenue A, Newsvine, Inspo Network), e-commerce/consumer (3 of 20, 15%: gear.com, Knack, FitOn), aerospace/defense (2 of 20, 10%: Insitu, HouseValues.com), advanced materials/cleantech (2 of 20, 10%: Modumetal, Ice Energy), agriculture/AI (1 of 20, 5%: iUNU), biotech (1 of 20, 5%: Juno Therapeutics), sports/media (1 of 20, 5%: FanNation), other (1 of 20, 5%: RealSelf). The portfolio is notably sector-diverse compared to most VC firms, spanning manufacturing, aerospace, biotech, digital media, and software. This breadth likely reflects Hanauer’s own diverse entrepreneurial background across manufacturing, e-commerce, and advertising.

Stage distribution: Predominantly seed and Series A stage investments. The firm’s stated focus on early-stage companies is consistent with the portfolio data. The firm typically invested approximately $1 million per deal in its early years ⁶, though more recent investments appear larger (Knack Series A at $3.5M ⁸).

Geographic concentration: Overwhelmingly Seattle/Pacific Northwest. Nearly every verified portfolio company (Seeq, Knock, Insitu, Market Leader, Newsvine, Azaleos, iUNU, Modumetal, Knack, Uplevel) is based in the greater Seattle area. FitOn (Los Angeles) is a notable exception. This is one of the most geographically concentrated VC portfolios among firms of this size.

Exit patterns: The portfolio has produced several large exits: aQuantive ($6.4B to Microsoft, 2007) ¹, Insitu ($400M to Boeing, 2008) ⁹, Juno Therapeutics ($9B to Celgene, 2018) ¹⁰, Market Leader ($355M to Trulia, 2013) ¹¹. Additionally: Azaleos acquired by Avanade (2012) ¹², Newsvine acquired by MSNBC.com (2007) ¹³, FanNation acquired by Sports Illustrated (2007), Knock acquired by RealPage (2022) ¹⁴. The hit rate on major exits is unusually high for a firm investing ~$1M per deal.

Co-investor patterns: Madrona Venture Group appears repeatedly (Seeq, Knock), consistent with the Seattle-centric focus. Other co-investors include Initialized Capital (iUNU), Founders Fund (Modumetal), Fifth Wall (Knock), Delta-v Capital (FitOn), and Accel (FitOn). The firm appears comfortable investing alongside both large brand-name funds and smaller specialist investors.

Founder profile patterns: Hanauer and his partners have shown a preference for founders with deep domain expertise. Seeq’s CEO Steve Sliwa was previously CEO of Insitu (itself a Second Avenue portfolio company) ¹⁵. The partners have explicitly stated they are “comfortable with people who have deep domain expertise” ⁶. There is also a pattern of investing in founders who have previously succeeded within the Second Avenue network.

Notable gap vs. stated thesis: While Second Avenue states a focus on “clean energy,” only 1–2 of 20 verified investments (Modumetal, Ice Energy) fall clearly into that category. The actual portfolio skews more heavily toward software/SaaS and digital media than the stated thesis would suggest.

Portfolio

The following table represents verified investments by Nick Hanauer individually or through Second Avenue Partners. Second Avenue Partners has reportedly invested in 39 companies total ¹⁶; this table represents approximately half of those, plus Hanauer’s personal investments.

Company	Year	Stage	Sector	Status	Source
Amazon.com	1995	Angel	E-commerce	IPO (1997)	¹²
Avenue A / aQuantive	~1997	Founder	Digital advertising	Acquired (Microsoft, $6.4B, 2007)	¹²
gear.com	~1999	Founder	E-commerce	Merged (Overstock.com)	¹
HouseValues.com	~2000	Seed	Real estate / SaaS	Acquired	⁶
Bocada	~2000	Seed	Data/storage management	Active	⁶
TeraBeam	~2000	Seed	Wireless broadband	Shut down	⁶
Newsvine	~2005	Seed	Digital media	Acquired (MSNBC.com, 2007)	¹³
FanNation	~2005	Seed	Sports media	Acquired (Sports Illustrated, 2007)	⁵
Azaleos	~2004	Seed	IT managed services	Acquired (Avanade, 2012)	¹²
Insitu Group	~2000	Early stage	Aerospace / UAS	Acquired (Boeing, $400M, 2008)	⁹
Market Leader	~2000	Early stage	Real estate / SaaS	Acquired (Trulia, $355M, 2013)	¹¹
Ice Energy	~2005	Early stage	Clean energy	Active	⁵
Seeq Corporation	2013	Series A	Industrial analytics / SaaS	Active (Series D)	¹⁵
Juno Therapeutics	~2013	Early stage	Biotech / Immunotherapy	Acquired (Celgene, $9B, 2018)	¹⁰
Flexe	2015	Seed	Logistics / SaaS	Active (Unicorn, $1B valuation)	¹⁷
Modumetal	2015	Growth	Advanced materials / Nanotech	Active	¹⁸
iUNU	2017	Seed	AgTech / AI	Active	¹⁹
Inspo Network	2018	Seed	Digital media / Video	Active	²⁰
FitOn	~2021	Series B	Fitness / Consumer	Active	²¹
Knack	2021	Series A	E-commerce / Gifting	Active	⁸

Notes: - Years marked with ~ are approximate, based on company founding dates or estimated investment timing. - Hanauer’s Amazon investment ($45,000 in 1995) was personal, predating Second Avenue Partners ². - aQuantive was founded by Hanauer; he served as CEO ¹. - Juno Therapeutics investment was personal; Hanauer and his wife were early backers of the immunotherapy company ¹⁰.

In Their Own Words

On the economy and job creation, from his 2019 TED Talk: “I am a capitalist, and after a 30-year career in capitalism spanning three dozen companies, generating tens of billions of dollars in market value, I’m not just in the top one percent, I’m in the top .01 percent of all earners” ⁷.

On why rich people are not job creators, from his 2012 TED Talk: “Rich people like me don’t create jobs. Jobs are a consequence of an eco-systemic feedback loop between customers and businesses” ²².

On the impact of raising wages: “Raising wages doesn’t kill jobs, it creates them; because, for instance, when restaurant owners are suddenly required to pay restaurant workers enough so that now even they can afford to eat in restaurants, it doesn’t shrink the restaurant business, it grows it” ⁷.

On greed and capitalism: “Greed is not good. Being rapacious doesn’t make you a capitalist, it makes you a sociopath” ⁷.

On economic inequality, from his 2014 Politico article: “No society can sustain this kind of rising inequality. In fact, there is no example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and the pitchforks didn’t eventually come out” ²³.

On the economics that made him wealthy: “The economics that made me so rich — it’s backwards” ²⁴.

On taxation: When asked how much he should pay in taxes, Hanauer responded: “50, 60%, probably — at least 50” ²⁴.

On his father’s approach to business and employees, from a Capital & Main interview: “He felt strongly that it sent the entirely wrong signal to our employees who worked, in his opinion, harder than I did and couldn’t afford such a thing” ²⁵.

On Amazon’s labor practices: “They’re super exploitive — just unacceptable” ²⁵.

On what drives prosperity: “It isn’t capital that creates economic growth, it’s people; and it isn’t self-interest that promotes the public good, it’s reciprocity; and it isn’t competition that produces our prosperity, it’s cooperation” ⁷.

On how workers are compensated: “People are not paid what they are worth. They are paid what they have the power to negotiate” ²⁴.

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found from portfolio company founders. Hanauer’s public profile is dominated by his political activism and economic commentary rather than investor-founder relationships. While his LinkedIn recommendations include professional endorsements, no specific portfolio founder testimonials could be independently verified from public sources.

Second Avenue Partners’ website does not include founder testimonials. The firm’s approach of meeting weekly with portfolio company CEOs ⁶ suggests hands-on involvement, but founder assessments of this approach could not be found in public sources.