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Co-founding Palantir — now valued above $100 billion — while separately building OpenGov software used by 1,800 governments, launching $6B venture firm 8VC, and founding the University of Austin marks Lonsdale as an unusually prolific institution-builder across defense tech, capital, and education.
Joe Lonsdale co-founded Palantir Technologies and founded 8VC, a venture capital firm managing over $6 billion in assets.
He also founded OpenGov, which provides software to more than 1,800 state and local governments, and the University of Austin, a new Texas institution focused on academic freedom. Through 8VC, he has backed Anduril, Wish, and Blend.
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