Scott Stanford

Scott Stanford, Co-Founder and Partner at ACME Capital

Scott Stanford is a veteran of the technology and venture capital industries, with over 25 years of experience as an advisor, operator, and investor.23 He is currently the Co-Founder and Partner at ACME Capital, an early-stage venture firm he founded in 2018.123

Prior to ACME, Stanford co-headed Goldman Sachs's Global Internet Investment Banking business in San Francisco for 12 years, where he advised clients on $80 billion of equity and debt financings and strategic transactions.12 He was deeply involved in investments in technology-enabled companies such as Facebook, Uber, DST/Mail.ru, Demand Media, LinkedIn, Palantir, iCrossing, and Square.12

Stanford also served as an early employee of LookSmart, helping build the company from a start-up in 1999 to a publicly traded NASDAQ company.2 He has held board positions at several companies, including Curology, ipsy, Cue Health Inc., Wag Labs Inc., Astra, and Luka.3

Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Stanford taught himself to code at age 13 and developed a passion for technology early on.2 He received his A.B. with Honors from Harvard College (Social Studies) and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.2

In recent years, Stanford has been vocal about the challenges facing the venture capital industry, predicting a "massive contraction" with half the firms actively investing in the last decade collapsing in the next decade.4 He believes the industry has become overcrowded, overcapitalized, and overvalued, and that surviving VCs will need to back companies that are inventing things and come with a sizable risk profile.4