NextGen Partners
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NextGen Partners is a professional group of pre-partner venture capitalists, including principals, associates, analysts, and other related titles. Based in Silicon Valley, the group organizes social events, educational events, and community service projects that aim to build relationships in the venture capital community and promote the development of pre-partner venture capital professionals in the absence of more formal training.
The group was founded in spring of 2001, and has grown to over 300 members representing over 140 different venture groups, including traditional venture firms, corporate venture arms, and venture debt companies. Member firms are listed on the company's website.
[edit] Structure
NextGen Partners is managed by an executive team that is comprised of members that volunteer their time to help organize events and lead the organization. Given the focus of the group on the pre-partner venture professional, there is significant anticipated turn-over in both the membership and the executive team. This turn-over has led NextGen Partners to establish a fairly broad executive team of 10 to 12 individuals at any given time. The current team includes members from Woodside Fund, Gabriel Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Siemens Venture Capital, Menlo Ventures, Storm Ventures, TriplePoint Capital, and DCM-Doll Capital Management.
In 2005, the executive team decided to formalize many of the processes for running the organization by incorporating and opening an account to manage finances. In addition, the executive team pulled together a group of leading venture capital general partners to form an advisory board that can provide guidance and build institutional knowledge. The executive team meets with the advisory board on a semi-annual basis. Current members of the advisory board include:
- Ann Winblad, Hummer Winblad Partners
- Ira Ehrenpreis, Technology Partners
- Phil Sanderson, WaldenVC
- Todd Jaquez-Fissori, Siemens Venture Capital
- Reid Dennis, Institutional Venture Partners
- Pitch Johnson, Asset Management
[edit] History
NextGen Partners was founded in the spring of 2001 to fill a need in the industry to provide a social forum for pre-partner VCs and offer educational opportunities. The founder of the group was Todd Jaquez-Fissori, who was a principal at Boulder Ventures at the time. He brought together the initial executive team, which included principals and associates from IDG Ventures, Woodside Fund, and 3i. The organization quickly grew in membership, as each successive NextGen event brought a flood of new member interest.
As members of the original executive team moved on professionally into general partner roles, operating roles, or back to school, the executive team faced the question of how to preserve the organization going forward, and whether to take the group into the general partner community along with some of the founding members. Instead, the group decided to remain focused on serving the needs of pre-partner venture professionals, and the focus shifted to building an institution and franchise that could survive future management change and grow into the premier organization of its kind.
