VC Firm General Catalyst Hires Morgan Stanley’s Paul Kwan

(Bloomberg) -- Venture capital firm General Catalyst has hired Paul Kwan from Morgan Stanley, where he was head of West Coast technology investment banking.

Kwan was at Morgan Stanley for more than 20 years and led initial public offerings, direct listings and mergers and acquisitions in Silicon Valley.

“No one in the Valley has probably worked with more companies through the IPO process,” said General Catalyst’s Hemant Taneja, a managing partner. Taneja said he worked with Kwan on IPOs by Snap Inc. and Livongo Health Inc., two companies that General Catalyst backed.

Kwan said in an interview that he will be a managing director at General Catalyst, focusing on investments in software, internet companies and some digital health companies. The firm’s portfolio includes Airbnb Inc., Oscar Health Inc. and Stripe Inc.

A representative for Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

Kwan and Taneja partnered to help create a model for special purpose acquisition company deals that it calls a stakeholder aligned initial listing, or SAIL. In a SAIL transaction, sponsors only get additional stock payouts if the merged company’s stock appreciates over time.

Kwan said he was excited to work with the firm’s
portfolio companies and that his experience at Morgan Stanley would help him in his new role.

“You see things in the public markets on the banking side,” he said. “You get to see how the best-performing companies scale.”

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.