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About Me

Michael Skok joined North Bridge Venture Partners in 2002 to seek out great entrepreneurs and lead innovative software investments. Prior to becoming a VC, Michael was an entrepreneur and CEO in the software business for 21 years. Michael founded and recruited teams that attracted over $100m in private equity for investments in multiple succesful software companies ranging from Enterprise Big Data and Analytics (AlphaBlox - acquired by IBM) to Consumer products (Symantec UK - NASDAQ:SYMC) and covering areas like, Content Management, and Collaboration while spanning the Workstation, PC, Client Server and Internet eras.

As a VC, Michael has initiated ventures with, seeded and invested in many great entrepreneurs who have built over a $1billion dollars of value focusing on large market changing technologies and disruptive business models such as SaaS, Cloud Computing, Open Source and Mobile.

Along the way, Michael has served on numerous boards and supported various industry groups like the Software Publishers association where he was Chairman for a number of years in Europe. He is active on the boards of all recent investments including Acquia, Akiban, Apperian, Demandware(NYSE:DWRE), and Unidesk, as well as Actifio and Revolution Analytics.

Michael's passion for innovation and entrepreneurship is also fueling his work mentoring and developing the next generation of entrepreneurs. For example he is currently developing and leading workshops such as the "Startup Secrets" series with the Harvard i Lab. His work in this regard can be found online at www.mjskok.com Twitter follow @mjskok

Location:
United States, Waltham, MA
Current organization:
North Bridge Venture Partners
Current role:
General Partner
Gender:
Male
Areas of expertise:
Venture Capital Investing
I am:
Business mentor, Connector, Entrepreneur, Filmmaker, Foodie, Idea generator, Investor, Marketer, Parent, Photographer
Languages:
English
My website links:
North Bridge Venture Partners, Harvard Innovation Lab - Startup Secrets
TED conferences attended:
TEDGlobal 2013, TEDActive 2013, TEDGlobal 2012

TEDCRED 20+ TED Attendee

More About Me

I'm passionate about

I’m truly passionate about innovation to solve meaningful problems and entrepreneurship to bring them to fruition and adoption.

Comments

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  • A comment on Conversation: What does it take to become an educational entrepreneur?

    Jun 27 2012: Amy,
    It's a great question and deserves attention. I'm a former entrepreneur who is now learning to teach. I think that is another model for helping out, but I am also realizing just how hard it is to become a good educator. So maybe a cross fertilization of entrepreneurs and educators would be in order?

  • A comment on Conversation: What is the future of entrepreneurship?

    Jun 26 2012: Thanks Pat,
    I have watched Shark Tank and I know what you mean about the signals it sends. Thank goodness it's not reality - just reality TV!

    I agree lowering the barriers to starting up is an important part. Another question is what to do to nurture the startups beyond that point.

    Also do the barriers in some way cause the natural selection of the best or are they just plain restrictive?

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