Pete Sonsini is a Forbes Midas List investor at Laude Ventures who comes from a rare multi-generational Silicon Valley investing family, as the son of Wilson Sonsini founding partner Larry Sonsini who made the Midas List eight times. He co-founded Laude as both a venture fund and nonprofit institute after leaving NEA, creating an unusual two-sided platform where the institute funds open research through programs like Slingshots grants and Moonshots labs, while the venture side backs the research teams that should become companies.

• Deeply connected to and enthusiastic about the UC Berkeley ecosystem. Strongly values investments and founders with ties to the university and its research labs. A great example is how often he proudly ties his backing of major tech companies like Databricks and Veriflow back to their Berkeley origins and campus networks.
• Passionate about open source software and enterprise data management. Firmly believes that standardized open source products are critical because they help companies avoid vendor lock in. He frequently champions companies like MapR for advancing data frameworks and Databricks for pushing data infrastructure forward alongside major industry players.
• Focused on foundational cloud technology and highly scalable web infrastructure. Views cloud startups as the primary engines changing the face of innovation. He repeatedly celebrated the massive growth of Nginx, emphasizing that it serves as the essential foundation for modern web applications rather than just a simple web server.
• Highly attentive to concrete customer validation and strategic business development. Celebrates real world traction like massive stream counts or crossing major customer milestones as the true markers of a successful startup. He even shares his own written advice on navigating original equipment manufacturing partnerships and business development specifically tailored for enterprise startups.