Wesley C Watts

Corporate Governance & Strategy

Mergers & Acquisitions

Seed, Venture and Growth Financings

Fund Investments in Companies

Life Sciences

AI & Machine Learning

Wes is the founding partner of our Austin office.

Wes represents a broad range of entrepreneurs and venture-backed companies, providing ongoing advice and support for issues relating to governance, day-to-day operations and a variety of transactions, including financings, mergers and acquisitions, technology transfers and strategic partnerships. Wes also has significant experience representing venture fund investors in early stage and growth stage venture financings.

Wes’s clients span across a wide range of industries, including healthcare, biotech, cybersecurity, e-commerce, AI, SaaS, consumer products, agriculture, energy, communication technology, entertainment, fintech, MarTech, PropTech, supply chain and logistics, among others. He works closely with clients through their entire life cycle, from providing strategic and corporate structuring advice to founders at the earliest stages, to managing venture capital and growth financings, to negotiating M&A and other liquidity transactions for late stage growth companies.

Wes has negotiated transactions across from many leading U.S. and international companies, including Accenture, Allstate Insurance, Amazon, Anheuser-Busch, Apple, Boeing, Canon, Capital One, CBRE, Coupang, Dell, Elevance Health, ExxonMobil, Goldman Sachs, Halliburton, Hitachi, Home Depot, IBM, Intel, Jeppesen, JetBlue, Lufthansa, Mastercard, MD Anderson, Microsoft, PayPal, Qualcomm, Realtor.com, Repay, Ripple, United Parcel Service, USAA, Visa, Walmart, William Morris Endeavor, Zynga and others.

Prior to practicing law, Wes obtained significant business experience. His work ranged from managing the marketplace sales and operations of a Fortune 500 company to being responsible for all aspects of a successful, locally-owned restaurant.

Wes shared in his press release upon joining the firm, “I have worked across the table from Gunderson Dettmer lawyers many times over the years,” said Watts. “Considering its size, Gunderson Dettmer has consistently punched above its weight class and it’s no wonder that it is the number one firm in the world for emerging growth companies and venture and growth equity funds. Gunderson Dettmer is singularly focused on the same clients I have devoted my own practice to. And that focus is tailored perfectly to the unique and developing ecosystem in Austin and around Texas.”