Kris Duggan

Kris Duggan is a technology investor and serial entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in Silicon Valley. Technology Investor and Startup Coach He is currently concentrating on the immense potential of the healthtech industry. Looking ahead, he is eager to pinpoint and invest strategically in the upcoming generation of innovative startups within this crucial and life-enhancing sector. Kris currently invests in a number of early-stage firms, including Gusto (a payroll, benefits, and HR automation platform); Blend (an enterprise software provider that empowers top mortgage lenders to be more efficient, compliant, and borrower-friendly); and Addepar, an investment management technology company. He also assists new startups and entrepreneurs by providing customized, one-on-one coaching sessions. To date, he has coached and mentored hundreds of new business professionals. Kris serves as an advisory chair to the Alchemist Accelerator, which champions enterprise startups and first-time entrepreneurs with disruptive, visionary ideas. Earlier Career In 2013, he co-founded BetterWorks, an enterprise software company dedicated to innovating the field of performance management. BetterWorks is funded by Kleiner Perkins (John Doerr) and Emergence Capital (Jason Green) and serves hundreds of customers. BetterWorks’ next-generation performance management platform empowers employees to seamlessly set goals; provide and receive peer feedback; and conduct regular check-ins with management, all in support of BetterWorks’ mission: Get 1% better every day. Under his leadership, Kris championed a flat, collaborative organizational structure and led the company’s team of managers across the company to 54%/46% male to female gender mix — this virtual parity is a rarity in the traditionally male-dominated enterprise tech space and more than twice the industry standard. Kris Duggan left his day-to-day role at BetterWorks in 2017, having shepherded the company past the 100-employee mark and overseeing the acquisition of more than 250 enterprise customers. Prior to BetterWorks, Kris Duggan co-founded Badgeville in 2010. Badgeville provided gamification and social engagement solutions to help companies influence and measure user behavior. During Kris’s three-year tenure, Badgeville raised $40 million in capital and expanded its workforce to over 100 employees. By 2013, the company claimed more than 300 customers. Badgeville was acquired in 2016 by publicly traded Callidus ((later bought by SAP) in a successful exit that validated their early efforts and underscored the transformative power of gamification. Over the last two decades in Silicon Valley, Kris has worked with many innovative startups and teams, including Palantir Technologies, RelateIQ (acquired by Salesforce.com), Addepar, Blend Labs, Gusto, Turo, and WebEx (acquired by Cisco). Earlier in his career, Kris held senior sales and management positions at WebEx and Socialtext, an enterprise social software provider. Education, Publications and Personal Life Kris has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of California, Irvine. He received a patent for customizable reward systems, and wrote and published “Business Gamification For Dummies,” a highly rated book that helps companies apply the principles of gamification to build customer loyalty and motivate employees. Kris Duggan is a frequent speaker on the topics of engagement, employee performance and collaboration. During his downtime, Kris is an avid auto racing fan and enjoys spending time outdoors with his family. Originally from Sydney, Australia, he now resides in Palo Alto with his wife and two sons.