# Steve Anderson
Steve Anderson is an American venture capital investor who founded and runs Baseline Ventures, a one-person seed firm best known for being the first investor in Instagram, where his fund's 12% stake turned into roughly $120 million when Facebook bought the photo-sharing app for $1 billion in April 2012.[1](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/) He appeared on the Forbes Midas List of top tech investors every year from 2012 through 2020, peaking at No. 2 in 2016.[2](https://www.forbes.com/lists/midas/?year=2020) • [1](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Firm | Baseline Ventures, founded 2006, sole decision maker: Anderson[4](https://www.baselinev.com/founder/) • [1](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/) |
| Earlier employers | eBay, Microsoft, Kleiner Perkins, Starbucks, Digital Equipment Corporation[4](https://www.baselinev.com/founder/) |
| Education | BA in Business with emphasis in Physics, University of Washington; MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business (self-reported)[5](https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveatbaseline) |
| Signature deal | First investor in Instagram; fund owned 12% at Facebook's $1 billion acquisition, April 2012[1](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/) |
| Other notable deals | Heroku, OMGPop, Machine Zone, PagerDuty, Stitch Fix, SoFi[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-anderson/) • [7](https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagrams-first-investor-explains-what-he-looks-for-in-companies-2012-4) |
| Midas List | 2012–2020, nine appearances, best rank No. 2 (2016)[2](https://www.forbes.com/lists/midas/?year=2020) • [1](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/) |
| Portfolio scale | More than 100 companies invested, over 50 profitable exits (firm's own claim)[4](https://www.baselinev.com/founder/) |
## Career and education
Anderson's path to venture capital ran through operating roles rather than finance. He describes his background as drawn from eBay, Microsoft, Kleiner Perkins, Starbucks, and [Digital Equipment Corporation](https://www.edgepedia.org/digital-equipment-corporation), experience he says he used to found Baseline in order to address the gap between individual investors and institutional venture capitalists.[4](https://www.baselinev.com/founder/) His LinkedIn profile self-reports a BA in Business with an emphasis in Physics from the University of Washington and an MBA from the [Stanford Graduate School of Business](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanford-graduate-school-of-business).[5](https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveatbaseline)
The founding of Baseline had a personal origin. In a 2011 [TechCrunch](https://www.edgepedia.org/techcrunch) interview, Anderson said that when he wanted to start his own company he lacked the roughly half-million dollars needed and was not interested in trading 40–50% of his ownership to secure financing from a Sand Hill Road venture firm. Baseline was built around the opposite proposition: small checks on founder-friendly terms.[6](https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/23/founder-stories-instagram-backer-steve-anderson-forget-the-billion-dollar-exits/)
## Baseline Ventures: the one-man firm
Baseline's defining feature is its size. As of Forbes' 2016 profile, the firm had only one decision maker despite Anderson's standing among the world's top tech investors.[1](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/) Anderson is the firm's sole decision maker.[1](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/)
The firm's scale is nonetheless institutional. Anderson said in 2011 that it took him only four weeks to raise $100 million for his then-current fund.[6](https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/23/founder-stories-instagram-backer-steve-anderson-forget-the-billion-dollar-exits/) His stated thesis rejected the pursuit of billion-dollar exits: the average exit over the prior ten years had been about $100 million, and owning 10% of a $100 million outcome was, in his words, "real money" for him.[6](https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/23/founder-stories-instagram-backer-steve-anderson-forget-the-billion-dollar-exits/) By its own account, Baseline has invested in more than 100 companies, with founders and investors exiting profitably from over 50; an earlier count on Anderson's LinkedIn profile put the figures at more than 75 companies and more than 25 profitable exits.[4](https://www.baselinev.com/founder/) • [5](https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveatbaseline)
## Notable investments and exits
**Instagram.** Anderson was the first seed investor in Instagram, and his fund owned 12% of the company when Facebook acquired it for $1 billion in April 2012.[1](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/) • [7](https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagrams-first-investor-explains-what-he-looks-for-in-companies-2012-4) At a 12% share of a $1 billion price, the position was worth roughly $120 million, a return that put Anderson on the venture capital map. Neither retrieved source gives the dollar size of his original check or Instagram's valuation at his entry.
**Early acquisitions.** Baseline's founder page lists seed investments later acquired by Facebook (Instagram and Parakey), Salesforce (Heroku, ExactTarget, GoInstant, CoTweet), Twitter (Crashlytics, GeoAPI), Google (Aardvark, DocVerse), and eBay (Hunch).[4](https://www.baselinev.com/founder/) Two of these carried published prices: [Heroku](https://www.edgepedia.org/heroku) sold to [Salesforce](https://www.edgepedia.org/salesforce) in 2010, a deal Forbes reported at about $250 million and [Business Insider](https://www.edgepedia.org/business-insider) reported at about $200 million in December 2010,[1](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/) • [7](https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagrams-first-investor-explains-what-he-looks-for-in-companies-2012-4) and OMGPop, another Baseline seed investment, sold to Zynga for close to $200 million in March 2012.[7](https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagrams-first-investor-explains-what-he-looks-for-in-companies-2012-4) Forbes also counts Machine Zone among his portfolio wins.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-anderson/)
**Stitch Fix.** Baseline was the largest shareholder in [Stitch Fix](https://www.edgepedia.org/stitch-fix), the ecommerce clothing company that went public in November 2017. Anderson remained a major holder after the IPO, though Forbes notes the stock later dropped back to its IPO price.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-anderson/)
**PagerDuty.** Anderson's seed investment in [PagerDuty](https://www.edgepedia.org/pagerduty), a DevOps software provider that went public in April 2019, was the holding Forbes credited for his 2020 Midas List slot.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-anderson/)
**SoFi.** Anderson invested early in the online lender SoFi, which reportedly raised about $500 million at a $4.3 billion valuation in May 2019; Forbes identified it as a holding that could keep him on future Midas Lists.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-anderson/) At the time of Forbes' 2016 profile, SoFi was valued at $4 billion and Stitch Fix was described as on its way to unicorn status.[1](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/)
## By the numbers
- **12% of Instagram** at a $1 billion exit, April 2012, roughly $120 million from a seed-stage position.[1](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/)
- **$100 million fund raised in four weeks** (2011), demonstrating institutional backing behind a solo investor.[6](https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/23/founder-stories-instagram-backer-steve-anderson-forget-the-billion-dollar-exits/)
- **~$100 million average exit** across the decade preceding 2011, the basis for his 10%-ownership thesis.[6](https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/23/founder-stories-instagram-backer-steve-anderson-forget-the-billion-dollar-exits/)
- **100+ investments, 50+ profitable exits**, per the firm's own founder page.[4](https://www.baselinev.com/founder/)
- **Nine consecutive Midas List appearances (2012–2020)**, best rank No. 2 in 2016.[2](https://www.forbes.com/lists/midas/?year=2020) • [1](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/)
## References
1. [How Instagram's First Investor Steve Anderson Struck Gold As A One-Man Deal Machine (Forbes, March 23, 2016)](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/03/23/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagram-venture-capital-raver/)
2. [Forbes Midas List (2020)](https://www.forbes.com/lists/midas/?year=2020)
3. [Steve Anderson – Forbes Profile (2020 Midas List)](https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-anderson/)
4. [Baseline Ventures » Founder – Steve Anderson](https://www.baselinev.com/founder/)
5. [Steve Anderson – LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveatbaseline)
6. [(Founder Stories) Instagram-Backer Steve Anderson: Forget The Billion-Dollar Exits (TechCrunch, October 23, 2011)](https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/23/founder-stories-instagram-backer-steve-anderson-forget-the-billion-dollar-exits/)
7. [Steve Anderson Baseline Ventures: Instagram's First Investor Explains What He Looks for in Companies (Business Insider, April 2012)](https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-anderson-baseline-ventures-instagrams-first-investor-explains-what-he-looks-for-in-companies-2012-4)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Founders, operators, and investors › Venture and growth investors › United States venture since 1985*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license