Willem Van Lancker

Willem is a partner at Terrain. He also founded Oyster, the first Netflix-for-books, which he sold to Google.

Before Terrain, he led incubations at Thrive Capital, partnering with founders from the earliest stages at The Browser Company, Imprint, Cadence, Nava, and more than a dozen other startups — companies that have generated hundreds of millions in revenue and are valued at over $3 billion.

Earlier in his career, Willem was a designer at Google Maps and Apple, where his work contributed to core iOS apps and operating system designs. He was a lead designer for Google Maps’ first iPhone app. His work on Google Maps is part of MoMA’s permanent collection and he holds U.S. patents for much of his original interaction work. In 2022, he designed Rhode Island’s state license plate now on over 400,000 vehicles. While still in college, he created brand identities for MLS, NHL, and NBA teams, developed packaging for Oreo, and designed a US stamp.

Originally from Rhode Island, he holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design.