David Beisel Joins Venrock to Expand Media Initiative
May 17, 2007
MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Venrock, the premier venture capital firm originally established by the Rockefeller family, today announced David Beisel has joined as vice president to grow Venrock’s media initiative. Beisel will be based in Venrock’s Cambridge office.
“The mobile and Internet space has a lot of momentum and Boston is home to an abundance of innovative start-ups,” said David Beisel, vice president, Venrock. “Given Venrock’s history and success as a diversified platform, as well as its expanding team, we are well positioned to take advantage of this trend, identifying and building promising new companies.”
Beisel joins Venrock from Masthead Venture Partners where he was a principal, focused on the firm’s media investments. Beisel started his career as an entrepreneur, having co-founded Sombasa Media, an email marketing company. Sombasa Media was sold to About.com in 2000, which was later acquired by Primedia, where Beisel served as vice president of marketing. Beisel also held consulting positions at the Parthenon Group and worked in product management at Adobe Systems. Earlier in his career, Beisel founded the Web Innovator’s Group in 2005. Recognizing the absence of a formal network for Boston-based Internet and mobile professionals, he established a forum for entrepreneurs from self-funded and early-stage startups to exchange ideas, present new services and regularly collaborate at meetings and special events. Beisel earned an A.B. in Economics, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
“There are early signs that the media industry will embrace the technology sector and we will be focused on entrepreneurs that are at the center of this intersection,” said Ray Rothrock, managing general partner at Venrock.
About Venrock
Venrock is a premier venture capital
firm with offices in Menlo Park, New York, Cambridge, MA, and Israel. Originally
established as the venture capital arm of the Rockefeller family, Venrock
continues a seven-decade tradition of partnering with entrepreneurs to establish
successful, enduring companies. Having invested $1.9 billion in 400 companies
resulting in over 120 IPOs over the past 38 years, Venrock’s investment
returns place it among the top tier venture capital firms that have achieved
consistently superior performance. With a primary focus on technology, healthcare,
and energy, portfolio companies have included Apple Computer, Centocor,
Check Point Software, DoubleClick, Gilead Sciences, Idec Pharmaceuticals,
Illumina, Intel, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Sirna Therapeutics, and StrataCom.
For more information, please visit Venrock’s website at www.venrock.com.