Tim Chang

Tim Chang is a US venture capitalist. Since September 2011, he is a managing partner at Mayfield Fund.

Tim Chang was born the United States to Taiwanese parents. From 1990 to 1996 he studied at the University of Michigan, where he earned his Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering. While studying there, Chang also participated in Japan Technology Management Program and studied in Japan.

In 2001, he earned his MBA as an Arjay Miller Scholar from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Later he became a mentor at StartX, a non-profit startup accelerator and founder community associated with Stanford University.

Chang started his career as an intern at Toyota Motor Corporation. He then worked as a chassis engineer at General Motors Japan. For 5 years he worked for Gateway Japan as a product manager.

Chang began working in venture capital financing in 1999 during his time at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he became a co-founder of CTR Ventures K.K., a venture accelerator in Tokyo. In 2001, he joined Gabriel Venture Partners firm and was promoted to its Principal in 2002. In 2006, he became a partner at Norwest Venture Partners.

In 2010, Chang co-founded wearable heart rate monitor maker Basis Sciences. The company received funding from Norwest Venture Partners and later from Mayfield Fund. In March 2014 the firm was acquired by Intel for $100 million.

At Norwest Chang also invested in ngmoco, Playdom, BranchOut, Lumosity and AdChina (acquired by Alibaba Group).

Two purchases of 2010 (Disney's $763 million purchase of Playdom and DeNA's $403 million purchase of ngmoco) resulted in him being included into Forbes Midas List in 2011 (#87). Beyond his investments in mobile and gaming companies, Chang was responsible for Norwest's investments in China and frequently traveled from the US to China. In November 2010, Chang was promoted from principal to partner.

While working for Norwest, he established a reputation as a gamification and social games expert.

In September 2011, Chang joined Mayfield Fund as a managing director of Mayfield XIII fund with $400 million in capital. In 2012, he was included into Forbes Midas List for the second time. In July 2012, Chang became one of the directors of Mayfield XIV fund with $365 million in capital. According to TechCrunch’s 2014 editorial note, at Mayfield he lead "consumer investing practice with a focus on the Internet of Things, consumerized health & wellness, crowdsourcing, collaborative consumption, mobile-first service and product marketplaces, vertical communities, and enabling platforms and services." He was one of the early venture capital investors in health-tracking apps, notablyHealthTap.

His other investments include Moat(acquired by Oracle for $850M), sustainable home and personal care goods eCommerce company Grove Collaborative, group fitness company Fitmob (merged with ClassPass), group commerce startup Massdrop,short-term rental management platform Pillow (acquired by Expedia), VR "mood on demand" startup TRIPP, and the drone company 3D Robotics.

Chang lives in the Silicon Valley with his wife and daughter. He has identified himself as a survivalist and biohacker. Chang is a bass guitarist at Punjabi funk band BlackMahal and classic rock band CoverFlow. He is also a bitcoin investor.