Venture Capital Heavyweights

Aug 18, 1999
Leverages Leading VC Brands in New, High-Performance Firm

Menlo Park, CA, August 18, 1999 - Six venture capital heavyweights from Brentwood Venture Capital and IVP (Institutional Venture Partners) have announced today that they will combine to form a new venture capital firm, which will be formally launched this fall. The new firm, currently code-named "Project T-Rex," will include Jeff Brody, Tom Dyal, Tim Haley, Brad Jones, John Walecka, and Geoff Yang. Brody, Jones, and Walecka are currently partners with Brentwood; Dyal, Haley and Yang are currently partners with IVP.

"Venture capital today has many players, but we believe that the power will consolidate with a few key firms," said Geoff Yang. "By pulling together this team of proven partners - combining the brand value of IVP and Brentwood in a new high-performance structure - we aim to be the dominant firm."

The new firm will focus on next-generation broadband Internet opportunities and digital TV, including infrastructure, e-commerce and the new digital media industry.

John Walecka commented, "The Internet has changed the dynamics of business, so our new firm has the opportunity to make a significant impact. Entrepreneurs must build brand value quickly while facing increased time-to-market pressures and new competitors. Our proven experience, network of contacts, and industry focus will help them win, thereby helping us to become the franchise industry leaders in the new millennium."

In addition, the firm will have two advisory partners, both pioneers of the venture capital industry: IVP founding partner Reid Dennis and Brentwood co-founder Kip Hagopian. Sam Colella, another IVP veteran, will participate as a special partner. Full details of the firm's funding, formal name, offices, venture partners, as well as other information will be disclosed this fall.

Brentwood and IVP

"Brentwood and IVP are two of the very best venture firms today," said Fred Giuffrida of Horsley Bridge, a limited partner of both Brentwood and IVP.

 "Combining this great team of performers in one organization is a bold move that will create a huge footprint on the venture capital landscape." Brentwood Venture Capital (Menlo Park), founded in 1972, has invested $1 billion in more than 300 companies, including leading companies such as Apple Computer, Sybase, Bay Networks, Xylan, WebTV, NextCard, Rhythms NetConnections and Stamps.com. Recent Brentwood funds have had among the highest returns in venture capital. In the first part of 1999, six Brentwood companies went public and seven were acquired. The firm also made 25 new investments. IVP (Menlo Park), founded in 1980, has approximately $1 billion of total invested capital. With top ranked performance, IVP has invested in hundreds of companies over the years including market leaders such as Seagate, Bay Networks, Excite, MMC Networks, Juniper, Ask Jeeves, and TiVo.

In 1999 to date, six IVP portfolio companies have gone public*, ten have been acquired, and the firm had made 14 new investments. "The venture capital business has changed dramatically over the years," said Reid Dennis. "Today, the business is more competitive and requires more in-depth technical knowledge. We are proud to see these partners seize the moment and create an extraordinarily strong team which will both greatly benefit entrepreneurs and investors."

The existing Brentwood and IVP partnerships will continue active involvement with their information technologies and life sciences portfolio companies, working to build strong companies and maximize investor return. Neither firm will raise further funds. In a similar effort, the Life Sciences partners of IVP and Brentwood will combine to form a pre-eminent venture capital firm focused exclusively on healthcare. This new firm, code-named "Project Pinnacle," will have the proven expertise and focus to take a dominant position in the market. More details will be disclosed next week.

The New Team

Commenting on the new team, Steve Perlman, co-founder and former president of WebTV, said, "Today, there are lots of good individual venture capitalists, but there are very few great teams. This firm will combine several top VCs into an awesome team that promises to be really supportive to entrepreneurs and young companies."

George Bell, president of Excite@home, added, "New Internet and digital TV companies need to move fast to establish leadership and grab mind-share. They must choose their investors based on value provided. This team of Internet veterans has created a high-performance firm with the experience, resources and network to create new industries and build market leaders."

The six partners at "Project T-Rex" have strong track records with Internet infrastructure and digital media investments. They have worked together on joint investments over the years.

Jeff Brody, 39, has led Brentwood's investments in a number of leading consumer-focused Internet companies including WebTV (Nasdaq:MSFT), NextCard (Nasdaq:NXCD), Flooz, mySimon, ReacTV, and ShoppingList.com, as well as business-to-business companies such as Concur Technologies (Nasdaq:CNQR), Full Circle Software, GetThere.com (formerly Internet Travel Network), PropertyFirst, and Seeker Software. Brody holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from UC Berkeley and an M.B.A. at Stanford University. He joined Brentwood in 1994.

Tom Dyal, 33, focuses on investments in the communications area, including data networking, telecommunications and communications components. He currently serves on the boards of directors of StratumOne Communications, Growth Networks and Santera Systems. He also led or was actively involved in IVP's investments in Shasta Networks (acquired by Nortel Networks) and Netcore Systems (acquired by Tellabs). Dyal holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University. He has been at IVP since 1997.

Tim Haley, 45, joined IVP full time in 1998. Prior to joining IVP, Mr. Haley was the principal of Haley Associates, one of the premier executive recruiting firms in the high technology industry. Mr. Haley consulted to the venture capital industry for 17 years and was active as a private investor in information technology startups. Haley's investments while at IVP include Homestead.com, ChemConnect.com, NetFlix.com, Onebox.com, and Kendara.com. He received his B.A. in philosophy from Santa Clara University.

Brad Jones, 44, invests in communications, Internet and software opportunities that are located in Southern California. He has worked with communications companies such as Multilink Technology, Comcore Semiconductor, CommQuest Semiconductor, and Xylan Corporation; Internet companies such as Sandpiper Networks, Inc., Stamps.com (STMP), and Trading Edge, Inc.; and software companies such as CIM Vision International, FileNet Corporation (FILE), and Jetech Data Systems. Jones holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a master's degree in physics from Harvard University and M.B.A. and J.D. degrees from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Stanford Law School. He joined Brentwood in 1981.

John Walecka, 39, is actively involved starting new companies in the core infrastructure and application services areas revolving around the next generation broadband Internet. In the past, he has helped build the crucial elements of corporate networks. Key investments include Xylan, Wellfleet Communications, Synernetics, Network Equipment Technologies (NETX), Polycom (PLCM), Onstream, Sybase (SYBS), Documentum (DCTM), Object Design (ODIS), and Vitria Technology. In the new broadband infrastructure and services areas, John works with companies such as Avici Networks, TransMedia Communications, Lightera Networks, Promatory Communications, Netro, Rhythms NetConnections (RTHM), HelloBrain, Syndeo, and Solipsa. In addition, he serves as Director of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists. John received his bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering from Stanford University, and his M.B.A. from Stanford's Graduate School of Business.

Geoff Yang, 40, focuses on investments in communications networking, and Internet and digital TV media. He is currently a Director of two public companies, Ask Jeeves (ASKJ) and MMC Networks (MMCN) as well as a number of private companies including Broadband Sports, Promatory Communications, SkyStream, TiVo, and Turnstone Systems. He has also led many other investments for IVP including Excite, Foundry Networks, Geocast, Juniper Networks, Netcore, Shasta Networks and Wellfleet. In addition, Yang also serves as a Director of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and Chairman to the Stanford Engineering Venture Fund and past President of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists (WAVC). Mr. Yang holds a B.S.E. in engineering and management systems, a B.A. in economics from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. He has been at IVP since 1987.
*Includes companies in registration.

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