Paul Murphy knew he would forge a career for himself in business one day. The son of entrepreneurial-minded parents, Paul was influenced by his mother’s ambition to start a business of her own, which she set out to do while also raising two young children. Her perseverance established Paul’s work ethic and investment perspective, and he eventually went on to take a special interest in working with founders of companies that went against the norm.
Paul first crossed paths with Lightspeed while he was at Betaworks. Lightspeed had invested in two companies Paul helped develop: Giphy and Poncho. In the meantime, he led investments in what are now some of the most successful companies in Europe during his tenure as an investor in the region. He was reintroduced to Lightspeed years later while working together on a co-investment, and it was then when he decided to make the jump to Lightspeed and help build the firm’s European presence.
A career in venture capital, however, was not the envisioned goal for Paul. But as a product developer and eventual multiple-time founder, he discovered a knack for fundraising while working on the other side of the business on behalf of his own companies. “After exiting my last startup, the game studio Dots, I was approached by a few funds to explore investing. I wasn’t sure I’d like it, so I agreed to join one of the funds I was closest to, Northzone, on a trial basis for nine months,” he says. “Turns out I loved it.”
After three years at Northzone, Paul once again indulged his passion for building products, creating Katch, an app designed to free busy people from their calendars. Having unique experience as an investor, founder, and product developer, Paul has an unparalleled understanding of what it takes to build a successful business.
Paul graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in computer engineering and received his MBA from IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. When he’s not tinkering with his latest idea for an app, you can find Paul skateboarding, kitesurfing, or trying his hand at nearly any other board sport.
