Jana Lightspeed

Investor, Advisor, and Computer Engineer in San Francisco, California

Jana Lightspeed

Investor, Advisor, and Computer Engineer in San Francisco, California

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Jana Messerschmidt is not the average tech expert. As an investment partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, Ms. Messerschmidt specializes in the intersection of business and technology. Over the years, she has held a variety of leadership roles in large technology companies. Her experience in sales, marketing, business development, engineering, and computer programming have allowed her to take on increasing levels of responsibility while also innovating and planning for the future.

Ms. Messerschmidt earned a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After coding and doing sales and marketing at a variety of companies, she assumed the role of Director of Business Development at Netflix. Ms. Messerschmidt also held the role of Vice President of Global Business Development and Platforms at Twitter. These leadership experiences showed Ms. Messerschmidt that there is a glaring lack of women in leadership positions in business and technology.

Some of the skills and areas of expertise of Ms. Messerschmidt include advocating for technological development, developing business policies and strategies that are inclusive to minorities and women and integrating development and marketing. She has created or advanced programs, apps, and software for many markets. Her work has benefited businesses in industries such as fashion, education, social and digital media, technology hardware and mobile payments and commerce.

In 2015, Ms. Messerschmidt founded the investment collective called #ANGELS. The goal of the collective is to get more women in leadership roles and to promote the ideas of women who want to start their own technology firms. Ms. Messerschmidt recognizes that women need a place in emerging fields and technologies. Her work to promote women's interests in business also extends to hosting events and conversations about community building and network diversification. Ms. Messerschmidt sees a future in which women hold an equal share of the leadership.

  • Work
    • Lightspeed Venture Partners
  • Education
    • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign