S2 EP02 - Samir Kaul '91 | Being A Missionary Rather Than A Mercenary

On Episode 2 of Season 2 of the Point Podcast by Bullis - we sit down with a member of the Class of 1991 - Samir Kaul. Samir fondly looks back at the friendships he made and the community he experienced as a Lifer at Bullis. He speaks to the non-traditional journey he made to his current success in venture capital and making a difference in health, sustainability, food, and advanced technology investments.

[Bullis] was a good mix of academics, community, community social work, which was encouraged, and athletics. I didn't play any college sports, but the competitiveness and teamwork are useful in everyday life. Samir Kaul '91

Samir is a Founding Partner and Managing Director at Khosla Ventures, where he focuses on health, sustainability, food, and advanced technology investments.

Prior to co-founding Khosla Ventures, Samir spent five years at Flagship Ventures where he started and invested in early-stage biotechnology companies. While there, he was involved in co-founding Helicos BioSciences, a leader in developing single-molecule sequencing instruments to revolutionize personalized medicine. Samir was also founding CEO of Codon Devices. Previously, Samir led the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative at Craig Venter’s Institute for Genomic Research. Under his direction, culminating in a historic publication in the scientific journal Nature in December 2000.

Samir is active in philanthropy and has been a longstanding member of the leadership committee of the Tipping Point Community. He is also a board member of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and on the Board of Trustees for the US Ski and Snowboard Association.

In his spare time, Samir enjoys golf, skiing, tennis, meditation, reading, and traveling. He is an avid sports fan with undying loyalty to the Michigan Wolverines, Washington Commanders, and Boston Red Sox.