David Lawee

David Lawee is a Canadian-born entrepreneur, operator, and investor. He grew up in Montreal and studied philosophy at the University of Western Ontario, law at McGill University, and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago. Before Google, he worked at McKinsey & Company and founded or co-founded several startups and investment efforts, including Mosaic Venture Partners in Toronto.

Lawee co-founded Xfire, an online gaming community and messaging service for gamers, which was acquired by Viacom. In 2005, he joined Google as its first Vice President of Marketing, overseeing consumer, advertiser, and partner marketing globally. He later became Google’s Vice President of Corporate Development, where he managed acquisitions and investments; multiple sources state that Google acquired roughly 100 companies during his five-year tenure in that role.

In 2013, Lawee founded CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth equity fund, and served as Founder and Managing Partner until June 2023. CapitalG’s model combines growth capital with operational support from in-house operators and Google/Alphabet advisors. Under Lawee’s leadership, CapitalG invested more than $4 billion into 55 companies and reported major IPO and M&A outcomes across companies such as Airbnb, CrowdStrike, Databricks, Duolingo, Lyft, UiPath, and Zscaler.

Since November 2024, Lyft’s board biography lists Lawee as Co-Founder of Crucible Labs, described there as a blockchain services company focused on decentralized AI. Crucible’s own site says he became captivated by Bittensor in 2022 and co-founded Crucible Labs to build around decentralized AI; the firm describes itself as focused on incubating, accelerating, and investing in the Bittensor ecosystem.

• CapitalG’s stated model is to invest capital and expertise in “remarkable leaders” at growth-stage companies, using in-house operators and Google advisors to help companies move from startup to scale-up.
• CapitalG focuses on a small number of transformational consumer and enterprise tech companies where it can provide tailored operational support, from initial investment through IPO.
• CapitalG’s published sector areas include enterprise infrastructure, security and data, fintech, consumer services, and marketplaces.
• CapitalG’s typical check size is $50 million to $200 million per company, backed by $7 billion in assets under management.
• Lawee’s own description of CapitalG’s founding goal was to bring “Google’s magic to growth equity investing” and build hands-on operational relationships with consequential founders.
• Crucible Labs’ current focus is Bittensor and decentralized AI. Its portfolio page says it backs teams “driving innovation across Bittensor’s decentralized AI network” and helps teams from early research and incentive design through launch.