Zaynep Yavuz

Partner at General Catalyst

Speaker

Zaynep is a Partner at General Catalyst, focused on founders with an outsider mentality, deep ambition, and the ability to think creatively from day one—particularly in underserved markets and sectors ripe for transformation.

Watching her entrepreneur parents build a technology company in Turkey without access to venture capital taught her two things: brilliant founders exist everywhere, and capital scarcity often breeds the most creative problem-solving. That perspective shaped her path into investing, with a focus on markets and founders that traditional venture capital often overlooks.

She began her career in technology investment banking at Merrill Lynch in New York before moving to the investing side at TA Associates, a global growth equity fund, in London. There, she learned how to build trust with entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds and nationalities, many of whom had never considered outside capital as a catalyst for growth.

Working closely with founders reinforced for her the importance of operating experience in being a truly effective partner. To build that perspective, she stepped away from investing and joined the product team at ZEPZ, where she learned how to run product teams at speed and launch products in emerging markets that leapfrog traditional incumbent systems.

While Europe is her base, she works with companies globally. At General Catalyst, she partners with founders from the earliest stages of company formation through later-stage growth. Much of her investing centers on applying technology and first-principles thinking to reimagine traditional business models and drive structural industry transformation.

She grew up in a city nestled between the mountains and the sea, which is why adventure sports feel like home to her. She enjoys hiking, skiing, open-water swimming, and kitesurfing—and is always up for trying new adventure sports in nature.