Dave Morin

Dave Morin (born October 14, 1980) is an American entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist who has been at the center of some of Silicon Valley's most consequential platform shifts. He grew up in Helena, Montana, where he skied for the northern division of the U.S. Junior Olympic team. He earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2003, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Morin began his career at Apple in 2003 in marketing before joining Facebook in 2006 as a senior platform manager. At Facebook, he co-created both Facebook Platform -- the world's first social platform enabling third-party developers to build applications within Facebook -- and Facebook Connect, the technology that allowed users to authenticate and share their profile data across the broader web. These innovations fundamentally reshaped how the internet operates and gave Morin deep insight into network effects, developer ecosystems, and platform dynamics.

In 2010, Morin left Facebook to co-found Path, a mobile social network focused on intimate sharing among close friends, alongside Shawn Fanning (Napster) and Dustin Mierau. Path was a deliberate counterpoint to mainstream social networks, initially limiting users to 50 connections to foster more meaningful relationships. The app attracted significant early traction and Morin famously turned down a $100 million acquisition offer from Google in 2011. Path was eventually acquired by South Korea's Daum Kakao in 2015 and shut down in 2018. Concurrently, Morin founded Slow Ventures in 2009, building it into a leading early-stage venture firm managing approximately $500M and backing a community of over 300 innovative companies including Slack, Pinterest, Robinhood, Evernote, NextDoor, Postmates, and Blue Bottle Coffee. He also served as a Special Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers from 2011 to 2015.

In 2020, Morin launched Offline Ventures with his wife Brit Morin (founder of Brit + Co), James Higa (former Apple senior director), and Nate Bosshard (Tonal co-founder). The firm debuted with a $100M fund anchored by Apple, with additional backing from ICONIQ Capital, Parallel Advisors, Dolby Family Ventures, and individual investors including Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, and Peter Thiel. Offline Ventures operates as both a venture fund and a venture studio, allocating roughly 80% of capital to early-stage investments and 20% to incubating and building new ideas internally. By 2025, the firm had deployed over $275 million across more than 100 companies, incubated 150 projects, and supported 200 founders. Morin is also a co-founder of Fwd.us, a Silicon Valley-based lobbying group launched in 2013 with other tech leaders to advocate for immigration reform.

Morin's investment philosophy is rooted in what he calls "humanist technology" -- the conviction that the best technology companies are those that genuinely improve human wellbeing rather than simply maximizing engagement metrics. This perspective was shaped by his experiences building social platforms at Facebook and Path, where he witnessed firsthand how product design choices affect mental health and human connection. His contrarian approach at Slow Ventures prioritized long-term company building and sustainable growth over rapid scaling and quick exits -- the fund's name itself was a statement of philosophy.

At Offline Ventures, this thesis deepens: the firm invests in technologies that support real-world connection, wellness, and human flourishing. Key focus areas include:

Morin's deep expertise in network effects and platform dynamics -- developed through building Facebook Platform and Connect -- gives him a distinctive lens for evaluating companies that become more valuable as adoption grows. He particularly values founders who think about long-term impact and sustainable business models.

• Consumer Technology -- Social platforms, community-driven products, marketplace companies
• Health & Wellness -- Mental health, telemedicine (e.g., Done for ADHD treatment), wellbeing technology
• Fintech -- Financial services and democratized access to finance
• Enterprise / SaaS -- Developer tools, productivity platforms, enterprise applications
• Hardware & Connected Experiences -- Physical products enhanced by technology (e.g., Ancient Ritual connected sauna)
• Crypto & Web3 -- Decentralized technologies and protocols
• Food & Consumer Brands -- Direct-to-consumer brands with strong community elements

| Company | Category | Notes | |---------|----------|-------| | Slack | Enterprise / Productivity | Workplace messaging platform (IPO, acquired by Salesforce) | | Pinterest | Consumer / Social | Visual discovery platform (IPO) | | Robinhood | Fintech | Commission-free trading platform (IPO) | | Stripe | Fintech | Payments infrastructure | | Twitter | Social Media | Social platform (acquired by Elon Musk) | | Postmates | Consumer / Delivery | On-demand delivery (acquired by Uber) | | Venmo | Fintech | Mobile payments (acquired by PayPal/Braintree) | | Nest | Hardware / IoT | Smart home devices (acquired by Google) | | Airtable | Enterprise / SaaS | Collaborative database platform | | Amplitude | Enterprise / Analytics | Product analytics platform (IPO) | | Blue Bottle Coffee | Consumer / F&B | Specialty coffee (acquired by Nestle) | | Evernote | Productivity | Note-taking platform | | NextDoor | Consumer / Social | Neighborhood social network (IPO via SPAC) | | Allbirds | Consumer / D2C | Sustainable footwear brand (IPO) | | OpenDoor | Real Estate / Proptech | iBuying platform (IPO via SPAC) | | PillPack | Health | Online pharmacy (acquired by Amazon) | | Wealthfront | Fintech | Automated wealth management | | Casper | Consumer / D2C | Sleep products company (IPO) | | Mozi | Social / Platform Software | Social platform (invested Jan 2025) | | Blueprint | Health / Wellness | Mental health platform (Series A, Oct 2025) |