Bessemer Venture Partners promotes Sam Bondy to Vice President

As AI reshapes entire industries, our investors aim to back founders who are tackling the largest, most complex markets long before their companies are widely recognized — and to support them well beyond the moment they break out. In this spirit, we’re proud to promote Sam Bondy to Vice President, recognizing his range and versatility as an investor and his contributions pursuing both early and growth-stage theses in vertical AI, software, and broader infrastructure.

After graduating summa cum laude from SUNY Binghamton with a B.A. in Economics, Sam joined J.P. Morgan’s Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) investment banking team, becoming one of their first analysts from a state school –– a milestone he credits with teaching him scrappiness and resilience. He then transitioned into private equity focused on software buyouts, specifically vertical market software and business services. He subsequently moved into earlier-stage investing, where he fell in love with the craft. When Sam met Byron Deeter and the Bessemer team, he joined with a toolkit that spanned buyouts, growth equity, and venture, enabling him to support companies throughout their lifecycle.

“Sam is the type of investor who loves to get deeply involved with our companies, allowing our founders to feel his impact from day one,” says Bessemer Partner Byron Deeter. “His deep financial training, combined with his early stage investing roots, brings a broad perspective which causes him to lean into bold opportunities." 

With a background in banking and private equity, Sam grew nimble at identifying unique, expansive opportunities — being deliberate in leaning into calculated risk and supporting the firm’s endeavors in AI and other frontier markets. His competitive edge lies in his skillset, consulting with the most promising founders on early-stage bets, and partnering with them to optimize and guide them towards key milestones through every stage of the growth journey. Today, he gravitates toward ambitious companies in large and rapidly changing markets such as legal, industrials and maintenance, design, AI infrastructure, and energy, playing a meaningful role in key investments — including MaintainX, Legora, Canva, Luxury Presence, StayTerra, among others — with a thematic focus on vertical software and AI. He has also helped champion rounds for Anthropic and ClickHouse, backing foundational infrastructure players in the AI ecosystem.

Beyond deal-making, Sam has expanded his impact by contributing to cornerstone pieces of Bessemer’s thought leadership, like The Rule of X and the firm’s STRIVE initiative. He also works closely with founders attending the board meetings of companies, including MaintainX, Shopmonkey, Productboard, StayTerra, Rilla, and Courier, collaborating with leadership teams to help them navigate scaling challenges and opportunities. He views this work as central to developing the pattern recognition necessary to identify and support generational, power-law businesses. Sam cites his colleagues, partners such as Byron Deeter, Sameer Dholakia, and Brian Feinstein, as key personal and professional role models and influences in developing his own investing style. 

Sam is based in San Francisco, where he enjoys spending time outside the office listening to podcasts, running, playing golf, and staying active.