Hemant Taneja

Hemant Taneja is an investor, founder, and author. He is the managing partner of the venture capital firm General Catalyst, which partners with mission-driven founders from seed to growth stage and beyond to build companies that are fundamentally aligned with the long-term interests of society.

Hemant is an early investor in market-leading companies like Digit, Grammarly, Gusto, Livongo (acquired by Teladoc), Mindstrong, Samsara, Snap (NYSE: SNAP), and Stripe.

His primary investment thesis, known as “economies of unscale,” explores how 21st-century founders leverage AI-based mass personalization techniques to innovate and build platforms across all sectors of the economy. In his 2018 book “Unscaled,” Hemant built upon that thesis to articulate the need for accountability, transparency, and explainability in AI technologies as they permeate deeper into daily life.

Hemant’s upcoming book, “Intended Consequences” (McGraw Hill, 2022), lays out an actionable framework for founders, entrepreneurs, leadership teams, and investors on how to build and maintain a “responsible innovation” company— a company built for growth and for societal good that withstands the test of time. The book explains why a company’s mindset—its intent to do good, avoid harmful consequences, and innovate responsibly—is not enough. That mindset must be supported by a business model, a mechanism that leaders must intentionally and proactively build along with the company from the ground up, one that incentivizes and rewards the organization for fulfilling its intentions.

Hemant is also the founder and executive chairman of Commure, a company that has partnered with major health systems to modernize the software infrastructure for the healthcare space since its inception in 2017. His recently published book, “UnHealthcare,” co-authored with Dr. Stephen Klasko, CEO of Jefferson Health, lays out their thesis on how the healthcare system needs to transform into a health assurance system to bring consumerism, affordability, and rational economic behavior to this important sector.

In addition to his investment work, Hemant is the Co-Founder of Advanced Energy Economy, an organization focused on transforming energy policy in America; and is a Founding Board Member of the Khan Lab School, a nonprofit K-12 school dedicated to classroom innovation. He sits on the Board of Fellows for the Stanford School of Medicine and teaches a course at the college on AI, Entrepreneurship, and Society.

Hemant has 5 degrees from MIT.