Trae Vassallo runs Business Operations, Engagement & Strategy for the Office of the CIO at Apple. She was previously Co-Founder and Managing Director of Defy, an early stage venture capital firm. She is an engineer, an entrepreneur, an investor, and an operator, and her passion is collaborating with amazing teams.
A "design thinker" and engineer at heart, Trae thrives at the intersection of great products and big markets. Prior to Defy, Trae was a General Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Over her investing career, Trae invested in a number of leading companies including eero, Nest Labs, Dropcam, Aggregate Knowledge and Opower. Trae has public company experience having been on the board of directors at Telstra, an international telecommunications company.
Before joining KPCB, Trae was a Co-Founder of Good Technology, a KPCB portfolio company that provides end-to-end wireless email services to the enterprise. Trae began her career at IDEO, where she developed ground-breaking products for companies including Palm and Dell. Trae holds 13 patents across a broad array of technologies and disciplines.
Trae strives to empower women in technology. She helped co-found and run Equity Summit, an annual event that brings $2T of AUM together for relationship building and authentic conversation between leading LPs and women GPs. In 2015, Trae co-authored the study "Elephant in the Valley" to help highlight the underlying data around the experiences of women in technology.
Trae earned a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in mechanical engineering with honors from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Trae participated on the Trust of the Stanford Business School and as an advisor to the Mechanical Engineering Department at Stanford. In addition to collaborating with amazing teams, Trae is passionate about adventuring with her husband, Steve, and three children.Trae Vassallo runs Business Operations, Engagement & Strategy for the Office of the CIO at Apple. She was previously Co-Founder and Managing Director of Defy, an early stage venture capital firm. She is an engineer, an entrepreneur, an investor, and an operator, and her passion is collaborating with amazing teams.
A "design thinker" and engineer at heart, Trae thrives at the intersection of great products and big markets. Prior to Defy, Trae was a General Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Over her investing career, Trae invested in a number of leading companies including eero, Nest Labs, Dropcam, Aggregate Knowledge and Opower. Trae has public company experience having been on the board of directors at Telstra, an international telecommunications company.
Before joining KPCB, Trae was a Co-Founder of Good Technology, a KPCB portfolio company that provides end-to-end wireless email services to the enterprise. Trae began her career at IDEO, where she developed ground-breaking products for companies including Palm and Dell. Trae holds 13 patents across a broad array of technologies and disciplines.
Trae strives to empower women in technology. She helped co-found and run Equity Summit, an annual event that brings $2T of AUM together for relationship building and authentic conversation between leading LPs and women GPs. In 2015, Trae co-authored the study "Elephant in the Valley" to help highlight the underlying data around the experiences of women in technology.
Trae earned a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in mechanical engineering with honors from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Trae participated on the Trust of the Stanford Business School and as an advisor to the Mechanical Engineering Department at Stanford. In addition to collaborating with amazing teams, Trae is passionate about adventuring with her husband, Steve, and three children.
🎙️ New Episode Out Now! Joanna Strober, Founder & CEO of Midi Health
Joanna goes deep with HumanizeHer on what every woman (and the people who love us) should know about perimenopause, menopause, and proactive care.
✨ In this episode, you’ll learn:
💤 Why estrogen changes drive sleep issues, anxiety, brain fog, weight shifts, skin & hair changes — and what to do about it
💊 The difference between birth control hormones and menopause-appropriate HRT (and why dosing matters)
🌿 Non-hormonal options (supplements + prescriptions) when HRT isn’t a fit
💻 How Midi Health built access at scale: insurance coverage and visits often in 1–2 weeks
🩸 A peek at proactive care: at-home blood testing + personalized protocols - game changer I can't wait to try!
🙋♀️ I’m a Midi user myself — HRT (estrogen + progesterone) has been a life upgrade.
If you’ve felt “off” and couldn’t name it… this conversation is your starting line.
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