John Vrionis

John Vrionis is an American businessman and educator known for being the co-founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Unusual Ventures. He previously served as a partner at Lightspeed Ventures. He also serves as a lecturer in management and entrepreneurship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Education

Vrionis graduated from Harvard University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He played varsity soccer for Harvard's soccer team, where he was also a member of the varsity men's soccer team and an Academic All-America recipient in 1996. He furthered his education by earning a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Chicago in 2001 and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 2006.

Business career

During his early career, Vrionis worked as an associate at ABN AMRO Venture Capital and a product manager at Determina. After concluding his soccer career, Vrionis transitioned into the technology sector, holding product management roles at companies such as Achieve and Determina, Inc. He also worked as an associate at ABM AMRO Venture Capital. In 2006, he joined Lightspeed Venture Partners where he became a General Partner.

From 2006-2018, Vrionis served as a partner at Lightspeed Ventures. As part of Lightspeed Ventures, he invested in companies such as Nicira, Nimble Storage, IO Turbine, Pliant Technology, and MuleSoft. He also founded the Lightspeed Summer Fellowship for young aspiring entrepreneurs.

Vrionis founded Unusual Ventures with AppDynamics founder Jyoti Bansal in 2018, focusing on supporting early-stage founders with operational guidance. He had previously invested in AppDynamics while he was still at Lightspeed Ventures.

Vrionis has been recognized on the Forbes’s Midas List, which highlights top venture capital investors globally. He debuted on the list in 2017, ranking 46th, due to his early investment in AppDynamics and Mulesoft. He was also included in the 2018 and 2019 Midas Lists.

Vrionis was also named to Business Insider’s Seed 100 List of Best Early-Stage Investors of 2024.

Soccer career

Vrionis was an All Ivy and Academic All-America soccer player while at Harvard. Following his undergraduate studies, Vrionis played professional soccer in the United States and the United Kingdom from 1997 to 1999. In the 1997 season, he made his professional debut as a defender for the Worcester Wildfire in the A-League, making eight appearances and scoring one goal.

Academic involvement

In addition to his venture capital work, Vrionis serves as a lecturer in entrepreneurship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and The University of Notre Dame, where he teaches courses on startup strategy and product-market fit.