Bob Kagle is a founding partner at Benchmark known for his blue-collar Midwestern background and his role leading the firm's early investment in eBay, where he served on the board for many years during the company's rise. He built a concentrated track record backing online marketplaces and transaction-oriented businesses like eBay, E-Loan, and uShip long before marketplace investing became common, and was featured as one of the central characters in the book eBoys about late-1990s venture capital. Bob Kagle is a founding partner at Benchmark known for his blue-collar Midwestern background and his role leading the firm's early investment in eBay, where he served on the board for many years during the company's rise. He built a concentrated track record backing online marketplaces and transaction-oriented businesses like eBay, E-Loan, and uShip long before marketplace investing became common, and was featured as one of the central characters in the book eBoys about late-1990s venture capital.