Rafi Syed
General Partner since 2018
“Tech has been magical to me since I was a kid. Now I get to be part of companies building tech to be a force for good”
Little-known secret
Bass singer in a cappella group during and after college
Favorite book
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
Thing that brings you the most joy
Landing in a new city for the first time
Education
BA Economics with minor in Computer Science at UC Berkeley
Rafi’s always been a builder. He began programming at age 8, founded a software business in college (which eventually failed), and now, is passionate about partnering with entrepreneurs to grow venture backed businesses.
Another UC alumnus on our roster from Berkeley, he came to Bow after time at Khosla, Bessemer, Boston Consulting Group, and Foursquare.
Rafi is passionate about how to design products for consumers that are ten times better by leveraging technology, and thrives off the magic of tech— finding that distribution advantage or product secret that makes businesses work.
Rafi is particularly interested in marketplaces, financial inclusion, transportation, and logistics.