Scott Sandell
Executive Chairman & Chief Investment Officer at New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
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Executive Chairman & CIO of NEA, seed to growth-stage investor ($5M-$100M) in enterprise software, cloud, AI, fintech, cybersecurity, infrastructure. Recent Robinhood growth investment. Menlo Park based. Senior leadership at major enterprise-focused mega-fund with broad platform mandate. Leading NEA's AI and infrastructure investment thesis.
Background
Scott Sandell is Executive Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the world’s largest venture capital firms with more than $28 billion in assets under management as of June 2025 12. He previously held the roles of CEO and Managing General Partner at NEA 1. He has been with the firm since 1996, when he joined as an Associate 1.
Sandell holds an A.B. in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business 34. Before NEA, he worked as a Product Manager at Microsoft, where he worked on Windows 95 4. Earlier in his career, he was at Boston Consulting Group and then joined C-ATS Software as the company’s first salesman, later co-founding and running the company’s European subsidiary 43.
At NEA, Sandell rose to General Partner in 2000, served as Co-Managing General Partner from 2015 to 2017, and headed the firm’s technology investing practice for ten years 2. He also led NEA’s China investing activities for over a decade 2.
Sandell is one of only four investors named to the Forbes Midas List every year since 2007, with 24 technology companies in his portfolio having successfully completed public offerings or mergers 1. He is also an Adjunct Lecturer at Stanford, where he co-created and co-teaches a course on principled entrepreneurship 34. He served as Chairman of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) board from 2014 to 2015 and is a founding director of Venture Forward, a nonprofit 34.
Stated Thesis
(Self-reported: These represent what Sandell says publicly about his approach. See Inferred Thesis for analysis of actual investment behavior.)
Sandell’s stated investment philosophy centers on patience and long-term value creation. He has identified patience as his greatest strength: “It takes time for great things to develop” and he believes in “looking at opportunities with a long-term perspective and giving them time to become large and enduring” 1.
On working with founders through challenges, Sandell has stated: “When challenges do emerge, our inclination is to roll up our sleeves and help, rather than be critical. And we usually come out together in a better place than where we started” 1.
Sandell emphasizes three critical elements for company building: clarity of thinking with clear purpose; prioritizing company interests over ego; and demonstrating drive and perseverance through inevitable challenges 1.
He has expressed his core conviction: “I just believe that we have the opportunity to invest in companies that can be enormously large and impactful and ultimately valuable” 5.
Sandell advises founders to cross-check investor behavior by talking with founders who have previously worked with that investor, noting it is important to understand how a potential investor reacts to bad news 5.
Inferred Thesis
Based on 22 verified investments in the table below. Note: Sandell has led investments across NEA’s nearly three-decade portfolio; this sample represents his personally attributed deals.
Sector concentration (of 22 verified investments): - Enterprise software & SaaS: 8 companies (36%) — Salesforce, Workday, Tableau, WebEx, Data Domain, NetIQ, Automation Anywhere, Coursera 12 - Infrastructure & networking: 5 companies (23%) — Cloudflare, Fusion-io, 3ware, Fineground Networks, Neoteris 2 - Fintech & consumer finance: 2 companies (9%) — Robinhood, Divvy 13 - Clean energy & hardware: 2 companies (9%) — Bloom Energy, Spreadtrum Communications 12 - Gaming & entertainment: 1 company (5%) — Playdom 2 - Consumer/logistics: 2 companies (9%) — Hello Alfred, Transfix 1 - Other tech: 2 companies (9%) — Branch, Enigma 1
Stage focus: - Multi-stage investor spanning seed through growth, but strongest track record in early growth-stage investments (Series A/B) that he supports through IPO 1 - Emphasis on companies he can support for many years (patience-first approach) 1
Geographic focus: - Primarily US-based with significant China activity (led NEA’s China investing for a decade, including Spreadtrum Communications) 2
IPO track record: - Exceptionally high conversion to public markets: 24 portfolio companies have completed IPOs or major acquisitions 1 - Key IPOs include Salesforce (CRM), Workday (WDAY), Tableau (DATA), Data Domain (DDUP, acquired by EMC), WebEx (WEBX, acquired by Cisco), Cloudflare (NET), Bloom Energy (BE), Fusion-io (FIO) 2
Co-investor patterns: - NEA frequently co-invests with other large multi-stage firms; Sandell’s portfolio companies often feature Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, and other tier-one firms 2
Notable patterns: - Extremely strong enterprise software thesis — 36% of verified portfolio is enterprise SaaS, including three of the most iconic enterprise software IPOs in history (Salesforce, Workday, Tableau) 2 - Pattern of identifying transformative platform companies at early stages and maintaining conviction through multiple rounds 1 - Public board seats at Bloom Energy and Cloudflare demonstrate continued deep involvement post-IPO 3 - Sandell’s early career at Microsoft (Windows 95) likely informs his enterprise software thesis 4
Gaps: - Despite NEA’s stated healthcare focus, Sandell’s personal portfolio is overwhelmingly technology-focused 12
Portfolio
| Company | Stage | Year | Sector | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salesforce | Early | ~1999 | Enterprise SaaS/CRM | Public (NYSE: CRM) | 2 |
| Workday | Early | ~2005 | Enterprise SaaS/HR | Public (NASDAQ: WDAY) | 2 |
| Tableau Software | Series A | 2004 | Enterprise SaaS/Analytics | Acquired (Salesforce, 2019) | 26 |
| WebEx | Early | ~2000 | Enterprise/Communications | Acquired (Cisco) | 2 |
| Data Domain | Early | ~2003 | Enterprise/Storage | Acquired (EMC) | 2 |
| Cloudflare | Early | ~2010 | Infrastructure/Security | Public (NYSE: NET) | 1 |
| Bloom Energy | Early | ~2002 | Clean Energy/Fuel Cells | Public (NYSE: BE) | 1 |
| Robinhood | Growth | ~2018 | Fintech/Brokerage | Public (NASDAQ: HOOD) | 1 |
| Coursera | Growth | ~2015 | EdTech/SaaS | Public (NYSE: COUR) | 13 |
| Automation Anywhere | Growth | ~2018 | Enterprise SaaS/RPA | Private | 1 |
| Fusion-io | Early | ~2007 | Infrastructure/Storage | Public (NYSE: FIO)/Acquired | 2 |
| NetIQ | Early | ~1998 | Enterprise Software | Public (NTIQ)/Acquired (AttachMate) | 2 |
| Spreadtrum Communications | Early | ~2004 | Semiconductor/China | Public (SPRD)/Acquired (Tsinghua) | 2 |
| Playdom | Early | ~2008 | Gaming/Social | Acquired (Disney) | 2 |
| Branch | Growth | ~2019 | Mobile/Deep Linking | Private | 1 |
| Enigma | Growth | ~2019 | Data/AI | Private | 1 |
| Expanse (fka Qadium) | Early | ~2015 | Cybersecurity | Acquired (Palo Alto Networks) | 1 |
| Hello Alfred | Early | ~2015 | Consumer/Property Tech | Private | 1 |
| Transfix | Growth | ~2018 | Logistics/Trucking | Private | 1 |
| 3ware | Early | ~1999 | Infrastructure/Storage | Acquired (Applied Micro) | 2 |
| Fineground Networks | Early | ~2002 | Infrastructure/Networking | Acquired (Cisco) | 2 |
| Neoteris | Early | ~2001 | Infrastructure/VPN | Acquired (Juniper Networks) | 2 |
This table includes 22 verified investments attributed to Sandell personally. Years marked with ~ are approximate based on public reporting and company founding dates.
In Their Own Words
“My patience. It takes time for great things to develop.” — Scott Sandell, NEA website, on what makes him a good investor 1
“When challenges do emerge, our inclination is to roll up our sleeves and help, rather than be critical. And we usually come out together in a better place than where we started.” — Scott Sandell, NEA website 1
“I just believe that we have the opportunity to invest in companies that can be enormously large and impactful and ultimately valuable.” — Scott Sandell, 20VC podcast 5
What Founders Say
No independently sourced founder testimonials found. Sandell’s track record of 24 companies completing IPOs or major acquisitions, and his continued board service at public companies like Bloom Energy and Cloudflare, provides circumstantial evidence of founder trust, but no direct founder quotes about working with Sandell could be located in public sources.
Sources
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“Scott Sandell, NEA Chairman, CEO & CIO,” NEA team page, accessed March 2026. https://www.nea.com/team/scott-sandell↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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“Scott Sandell,” Crunchbase person profile, accessed March 2026. https://www.crunchbase.com/person/scott-sandell↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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“Scott Sandell,” Coursera Board of Directors page, accessed March 2026. https://investor.coursera.com/governance/board-of-directors/person-details/default.aspx?ItemId=e901e0cf-ca47-42d6-8651-53aca29a96b2↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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“Scott Sandell,” Stanford NVCA Venture Capital Symposium 2020, accessed March 2026. https://conferences.law.stanford.edu/vcs2020/speakers/scott-sandell/↩↩↩↩↩↩
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“20VC: NEA’s Scott Sandell on SPACS and Why Liquidity is One of the Challenges of our Time,” Twenty Minute VC podcast, accessed March 2026. https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/scott-sandell↩↩↩
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“CHAPTER 13: Scott Sandell, NEA: Salesforce, WebEx, Bloom Energy,” Venture Capitalists at Work (O’Reilly), accessed March 2026. https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/venture-capitalists-at/9781430238379/Chapter13.html↩