Tim Young

Co-founder & General Partner at Eniac Ventures

Overview

Tim Young is a Founding General Partner at Eniac Ventures[1] with experience advising and investing in early-stage startups[4]. Young holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania[14] and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School[15]. Young has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa[6] and maintains investment positions in multiple companies including Airbnb[10], SpaceX[11], Attentive[7], brightwheel[8], Alloy[9], and Phil, Inc.[12]. Young's current areas of interest include Defense and Intelligence Tech, Security, Healthcare, and Legal Tech[4].

Profile introduction
Source excerptLinkedIn [4]

Current areas of interest: Defense and Intelligence Tech, Security, Healthcare, and Legal Tech. Tim Young is a Founding General Partner at Eniac Ventures with two exits as an entrepreneur and over 25 years of experience advising and investing in 300+ early stage startups. Tim has been fascinated by technology since his mother taught him to code in Fortran at the age of 10. He went on to study engineering and become a patent attorney and tech entrepreneur. Tim invests in Defense and Intelligence tech, drawing on his background in the Intelligence Community to accelerate founders building for…

Career history

  1. Founding General PartnerJan 2008 to PresentEniac Ventures
  2. Adjunct ProfessorSep 2021 to PresentUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa
  3. Seed InvestorSep 2016 to PresentAttentive
  4. Seed InvestorDec 2014 to Presentbrightwheel
  5. Seed InvestorAug 2017 to PresentAlloy
  6. InvestorOct 2012 to PresentAirbnb
  7. InvestorMar 2016 to PresentSpaceX
  8. Seed InvestorAug 2015 to PresentPhil, Inc.

Education

  1. Adjunct Professor at University of Hawaii at Manoa
  2. BSE, Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringUniversity of Pennsylvania

Insights & ideas

Tim Young argues that founders should approach venture capital with caution, framing it as a costly trade rather than an unambiguous benefit. His core position is that if a founder can avoid taking venture capital, they should, since VCs provide "a little bit of value and more money" but "take a lot in return" [1]. He suggests this skepticism about the VC model is not a fringe view but one that becomes more common with experience, noting that "the more experience you have in venture, the more you kind of move towards that opinion" [1]. This reflects a recurring theme in his thinking: a candid, insider critique of the equity cost embedded in venture financing, encouraging founders to weigh dilution and value received rather than assuming VC backing is inherently desirable [1].

Media & appearances

In the news

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