Dean's Spring Lecture: From Punched Cards to Social Media: Observations on Entrepreneurship and Technology
Abstract
The talk will address lessons learned over 30 years as an entrepreneur and technology investor, including the attributes of successful entrepreneurial efforts and the qualities that make a project and team attractive to venture investors. I'll also provide advice on managing a young company and building a successful team. The talk will include anecdotes from projects that I have been involved with including Facebook, Veritas, Mpath.
Bio: Jeff Rothschild was Vice President of Infrastructure Engineering at Facebook from 2005 to 2015. Jeff has been a serial entrepreneur and investor and was co-founder of the storage software company Veritas Software and the online gaming company Mpath Interactive.
Since leaving Facebook, Jeff has been working as an investor and mentor to entrepreneurs and is currently on the board of directors of Primary Data (storage software), Interana (data analytics), and Lytmus (engineering skills assessment). Jeff is a member of the venture development team at Accel Partners, and serves on the Board of Trust of Vanderbilt University. Jeff’s philanthropic activities include educational projects supporting disadvantaged students, the Kisii Eye Care Institute, an ophthalmologic hospital providing restorative eye surgery in western Kenya, and the Dairy Farmers of Cherangany, a dairy cooperative, also in Kenya.