Ben Schwerin, a longtime Snap govt, is becoming a member of funding agency Coatue to launch its Los Angeles workplace.
Getty Photos for Snap, Inc.
Coatue is tapping a longtime Snap govt to function its subsequent basic accomplice main client and web investing.
Ben Schwerin, Snap’s senior vp of content material and partnerships, is departing the social media firm on the finish of March to hitch Coatue in early April. Schwerin, who relies in Los Angeles, is predicted to assist construct out the agency’s first workplace in that metropolis this summer season. Selection beforehand reported phrase of Schwerin’s departure from Snap.
“I’m excited to take every little thing we’ve finished at Snap and apply that to Coatue’s portfolio, and new alternatives we discover,” Schwerin advised Forbes.
Schwerin will make investments throughout early and progress levels for Coatue targeted on client web firms, however can be anticipated to have a look at potential investments in synthetic intelligence and to a lesser extent local weather tech, healthcare and fintech.
Considered one of Snap’s longest-serving executives, Schwerin joined the corporate in 2015 after cofounding Fenway Methods, a communications consulting agency, with Crooked Media founders Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor in 2013. Schwerin additionally beforehand labored with Invoice Clinton in his New York workplace and with U2 frontman Bono on tour and in his philanthropic efforts.
Schwerin truly met Snap cofounder and CEO Evan Spiegel by way of Coatue – Thomas Laffont, the agency’s cofounder, met Schwerin a few years earlier, when Laffont was a expertise agent at CAA, and Schwerin a helpful intern. After becoming a member of his brother at Coatue, Laffont was contemplating an funding in Snap when he urged Schwerin and Spiegel get lunch. (Coatue invested $50 million in Snap’s Collection C introduced in December 2013.) Schwerin served as an adviser for a 12 months earlier than becoming a member of Snap full-time.
Snap promoted Schwerin in 2021 so as to add content material to partnerships as a part of his purview. He wasn’t actively on the lookout for a job outdoors of Snap when the Coatue alternative materialized, Schwerin mentioned. “I’m very completely happy at Snap, and really optimistic about Snap’s future. It was the proper alternative and the proper folks,” he added. Requested how he would describe his legacy at Snap, Schwerin mentioned he pointed to the staff he’s now abandoning on the partnerships aspect, in addition to the worldwide enterprise relationships developed with the likes of Disney, Google and the NFL.
He declined to touch upon what Spiegel felt in regards to the departure. (Forbes has requested Snap for Spiegel’s remark and can replace this story with any response.) “I’ll say Evan and I’ve an incredible relationship, and I’m such an admirer of him as a pacesetter and innovator,” Schwerin mentioned. “I don’t suppose I’d be leaving if I didn’t really feel actually good about our technique, route and management. I do know they are going to be superb with out me.”
At Coatue, Laffont mentioned the agency stood to learn from Schwerin’s expertise “at the forefront” of improvements whereas at Snap, from the way it rethought using a digital camera in app experiences to exercise feeds and augmented actuality. Such expertise may additionally show useful because the agency appears to be like to take a position extra in AI, Laffont added. “We predict AI may have an analogous wave to the iPhone,” launching a wave of startups. “And we wish to be very nicely positioned to that.”
Shwerin’s rent additionally displays Coatue’s dedication to Los Angeles, the place the agency has employed a basic accomplice prior to now, however hadn’t but constructed out a full workplace. “One thing I felt was actually necessary to Snap’s DNA was that we weren’t in Silicon Valley. It gave us entry to completely different industries, and artistic folks,” Schwerin mentioned. “And one factor that’s nice about Los Angeles is that we’re very near San Francisco.”
It additionally comes throughout a wider interval of turnover at Coatue, the agency based by Thomas and Philippe Laffont as a hedge fund in 1999. Thomas joined full-time in 2003 to ascertain its international non-public fairness observe; in recent times, the agency emerged as one of the crucial lively traders in tech startups, with many extra moreover Snap resembling exited firms DoorDash, Lyft and Slack, and present unicorns resembling Airtable, Databricks and Scale AI.
However amid a tightened capital surroundings that has put strain on some so-called crossover funds to cut back their startup ambitions, Coatue has additionally had a collection of latest accomplice departures, together with three companions final 12 months. Most lately, a accomplice in its progress staff who made a few of its AI investments, David Cahn, left for Sequoia, as reported lately by Axios.
Coming within the door, Schwerin was preceded by Sri Viswanath, Atlassian’s former CTO who joined the agency final 12 months to guide its AI investments. Laffont mentioned Coatue stays “completely dedicated to the ecosystem” at each stage, whereas the agency holds board director or observer seats at greater than 100 firms. “We’re lively individuals,” he added.
“In the event you’re an investor, you wish to be the place individuals are deploying capital. If not, what are you doing?” Laffont mentioned. “On the finish of the day, I don’t suppose there’s somebody who has deployed extra capital into the ecosystem than we have now. And we’re at all times innovating on the system.”
