Dana Settle

Who they are

Dana Settle is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Greycroft — co-founded the firm from scratch in 2006 with Alan Patricof and Ian Sigalow, and sits on the board of Stability AI and IMAX Corporation.

Person

Dana Settle built Greycroft from nothing in 2006 — no fund, no portfolio, just a co-founding bet with Alan Patricof and Ian Sigalow on internet and emerging technology. Before that, she was a venture capitalist at Mayfield, focused on early-stage mobile communications and consumer internet, and before Mayfield she was an investment banker at Lehman Brothers in the media and communications group. Earlier still, she was in international business development at McCaw Cellular Communications. The through-line is media and communications: she has been tracking the same broad arc — telecom to internet to digital consumer to AI — for her entire career. She holds a BA in Finance and International Studies from the University of Washington and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She writes at TechCrunch on venture capital and the LA tech ecosystem, and in 2025 was on stage at Fortune Brainstorm Tech discussing where the AI boom really stands, alongside GV's David Krane. She is a founding member of All Raise, a female mentorship collective in tech, and of Baby2Baby, a non-profit supporting children in poverty. Possibly — she also hosts a personal podcast called Settle Smarter, covering personal development and life beyond material success.

Company

Greycroft's most recent major deployment was in January 2025, when it led Whatnot's $265 million Series E, valuing the live-commerce platform at nearly $5 billion. That came after a busy 2023 in which the firm closed more than $1 billion across two new funds — Greycroft Partners VII and Greycroft Growth IV — bringing total capital raised since inception to over $3 billion. Also in 2023, Greycroft announced a strategic shift toward AI startups and took on the management of a $137.7 million sustainability fund in partnership with The Coca-Cola Company and eight bottling partners, targeting packaging, decarbonization, and supply chain technologies. As of December 2024, the firm manages approximately $4.36 billion in assets under management and employs a team of over 75.

Market

Greycroft ranks among the top 20 venture capital firms by AUM in the United States, competing with other top-tier early and growth-stage funds focused on software, sustainability, and consumer markets. The broader VC environment has been uneven — late-stage deal flow slowed through 2023, though AI has attracted fresh capital and strategic pivots across the industry. Regulatory and geopolitical dynamics are increasingly shaping deal strategy, particularly around national security and technology access, adding a new layer of complexity to portfolio construction.

Network

Dana co-leads Greycroft alongside co-founder and Managing Partner Ian Sigalow. Her board footprint extends well beyond the firm: she sits on the boards of Stability AI and IMAX Corporation, and serves on the board of the National Venture Capital Association. She was recently on a panel at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2025 with David Krane of GV, signaling active cross-firm dialogue on AI market dynamics.

Ian Sigalow· Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Greycroft
Alan Patricof· Co-Founder (Founder Emeritus), Greycroft
David Krane· Partner, GV
Kevin Gasque· CFO and COO, Greycroft

How they likely show up

Nearly 20-year tenure building Greycroft from zero → thinks in fund cycles and decade-long thesis arcs, not short-term deal flow.
Consistent conference presence across Milken, Stanford NVCA, Fortune Brainstorm Tech, and CNBC Events → comfortable at the intersection of investing and public narrative; likely values visibility as a firm-building tool.
Track record across telecom (McCaw), banking (Lehman), early-stage VC (Mayfield), and co-founding a fund → pattern of moving toward the frontier of a medium before it peaks, not following the consensus.
Founding member of both All Raise and Baby2Baby → invests energy in institution-building, not just individual deal-making; likely drawn to counterparts who are building something durable.
TechCrunch contributor on VC and the LA ecosystem → writes for practitioner audiences, not general public; favors substance over brand positioning.
Board seats at Stability AI and IMAX simultaneously → comfortable holding tension between bleeding-edge AI and established media; not a single-thesis investor.

Conversation tips

→ Come with a specific view on the Whatnot Series E or live commerce more broadly — she led a $265 million round, so she has thought hard about this space and will engage substantively if you have a real take.
→ Ask about the Coca-Cola sustainability fund — it is an unusual structure (LP-as-strategic-partner) and likely reflects deliberate thesis-building she is proud of.
→ Reference the LA tech ecosystem specifically; she has been publicly vocal about LA's ascent and is invested in its narrative.
→ Don't treat AI as a trend question — she was on stage at Fortune Brainstorm Tech in 2025 on exactly this topic and will expect precision, not generalities.
→ Mentioning All Raise or Baby2Baby is fine, but only if you can be specific — she is a founding member of both, not a casual supporter.

Toolbox

Openers

Open on the Whatnot Series E — Greycroft led a $265 million round in January 2025 valuing the company at nearly $5 billion; that's a pointed bet on live commerce at a moment when most investors are chasing pure-play AI.
Reference her board seat at Stability AI — sitting on the boards of both an AI foundation model company and IMAX Corporation is an unusual combination, and it surfaces a real question about how she thinks about AI and media converging.
Bring up the Coca-Cola sustainability fund she manages — a $137.7 million vehicle co-created with a strategic corporate LP is a non-standard fund structure worth discussing on its own terms.

Discovery questions

You led Whatnot's Series E at nearly $5 billion — what was the thesis for doubling down on live commerce specifically at this stage of the market?
You announced a shift toward AI startups in 2023 and sit on Stability AI's board — where do you see the real wedge for early-stage AI companies that isn't already crowded by incumbents?
The Coca-Cola sustainability fund is an unusual structure — how does having a major corporate as a strategic LP change how you source and underwrite deals inside that vehicle?

Avoid

Don't ask broad 'what's your thesis' or 'how do you pick founders' questions — she has been asked these hundreds of times across Milken, Stanford NVCA, and CNBC; come with a specific deal, market, or structural question instead.

Make it yours