Shuo Chen
General Partner at IOVC; Faculty at UC Berkeley; Lecturer at Stanford University
Investing in pre-seed and early-stage B2B startups that power the future of work and digital transformation.
Intro
I'm Shuo Chen, a General Partner at IOVC and a faculty member at both UC Berkeley and Stanford. My career has spanned from M&A at PwC and investment banking at Goldman Sachs to my current focus on pre-seed and early-stage B2B startups that are building the 'future of work.' I am particularly passionate about the concept of 'fractional founders'—the idea that the most successful ventures often start as side-hustles to de-risk the journey. Beyond investing, I serve as a Commissioner for California’s Mental Health Services, overseeing a $10 billion budget, and I’ve co-authored a book on financial regulation. Whether I'm teaching at the School of Engineering or gardening at home, I'm driven by curiosity and the belief that human judgment is more valuable than ever in the age of AI. I’m always looking to connect with ambitious founders and students who are ready to build the next generation of enterprise infrastructure.
Networking
What I can offer
- ›Pre-seed/Seed investment and mentorship
- ›Strategic advisory on technology and innovation
- ›Connections to the Berkeley/Stanford/Harvard tech ecosystems
- ›Insights on financial regulation and mental health policy
What I'm looking for
- ›Fractional founders and student entrepreneurs
- ›Early-stage B2B startups focusing on automation and hybrid work
- ›Collaborations at the intersection of AI, education, and policy
Best fit for
Focus
Current interests
Core competencies
Background
Career
Began in M&A at PwC and Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs before transitioning into venture capital and academia. Currently a General Partner at IOVC and a faculty member at both UC Berkeley and Stanford.
Education
PhD in Finance and Law (Macquarie University); Juris Doctor (The Chinese University of Hong Kong); BA & BS (UC Berkeley); Undergraduate Exchange (Harvard University); L'Académie de Paris (Cambridge/Oxford); Basic Cuisine Certificate (Le Cordon Bleu Paris).
Achievements
- ›Invested in unicorns including Instacart, Checkr, Boom, Grubmarket, and Rescale
- ›Appointed by Governor Newsom to oversee a $10 billion California mental health budget
- ›Co-authored a book on financial regulations published by Cambridge University Press
- ›Guinness World Record pipa player
Opinions
- The best founders start 'fractionally' rather than quitting their jobs cold turkey.
- As AI automates 90% of tasks, the 'last 10%' of human judgment becomes 10x more valuable.
- Top talent must possess both 'Agency' (nothing is too big) and 'Humility' (nothing is too small).
- AI risks making individuals 'dumber' by causing mental muscles to atrophy through outsourced thinking.
Personality
Communication style
Professional, encouraging, and highly structured; often distills complex topics into numbered lists or 'big takeaways'.
Formality — 7/10
Vocabulary