Tripp has invested in a dozen companies that have grown into billion-dollar businesses. He gravitates toward overlooked and underdeveloped markets, guided by three things: “team, team, and TAM.” His thesis is simple: invest against the phone. Whether consumer or B2B, he looks for business models that create network effects or recurring revenue – but above all, that make life richer and the world more connected.
As General Partner at August Capital, Tripp backed BARK (NYSE: BARK), which grew from a playful subscription box into a $1.75B public company built around the love of pets. He partnered with Hipcamp, often called the “Airbnb for the outdoors,” which gives landowners non-exploitive ways to earn income off their properties, while giving more people access to nature. Hipcamp’s founder and CEO, Alyssa Ravasio, “has a clear vision of the world she wants to see in 20 years; she’s just working towards it.”
When looking at consumer businesses of any kind (finance, healthcare, insurance), he focuses specifically on how they rethink and improve the experiences of women, whose buying power and influence make up 83% of the American consumer economy.
Tripp has wanted to be a VC since he was eight – one of the quirks of growing up in the Bay Area. He earned his BA in Psychology from Princeton University.
Outside of Uncork, Tripp is happiest outdoors, often on the trails of Marin with his kids, dog, or mountain bike. A former ski coach at Squaw Valley, he still makes time for the slopes, and at home he doubles as short-order cook, making hot breakfasts every morning for his wife and three children.
Sarah Du
Senior Associate