"The aftermath of the Telecom/Internet bubble was a difficult period for many
companies, but it wasn't altogether a bad time," says Paul Matteucci, who served as
interim CEO for several USVP companies during the early part of the decade and observed
that "real entrepreneurs" continued to innovate and forge new pathways that today are
bearing fruit. Now he sees this happening again as we recover from the deep recession
of 2008-2009. "When some one from this new generation loses a job, you find them
waiting in the lobbies of venture capital firms with a business plan, rather than in
the unemployment line with a resume. They have a sense that they can take charge of
their own destiny, rather than become a victim of their circumstance."
With a passion for mentoring startup teams, Paul helped a generation of entrepreneurs
learn object lessons in how to execute during difficult times. In fact, he notes, the
best of them learned to use the hard times as a source for innovation, and as impetus
for creating cultures that are accountable, cash-efficient and focused.
"USVP remains very active during all phases of the business cycle, continuing to invest
throughout the recession and recovery. We invest in 15 to 20 new businesses every
year. It takes time to build a great company. So when you start it, is less important
than when it emerges with its product done and its sales beginning to ramp. It is hard
to predict what the economy will look at that point, so you can't let today's news
overly impact your investment timing. The current generation of management in today's
startups is savvier, more resilient, and willing to take five years or more to build a
company."
Paul's passion is for creating jobs for people and their families. Small businesses
are by far the major source of job creation in the U.S. and, increasingly, worldwide.
His strengths include strategic marketing, organization operations, and team-building.
"Entrepreneurs are smart, engaging people. They have a vision for how to change the
world. I help them avoid the tendency to defocus when facing multiple opportunities."
Prior to USVP, Paul was CEO of HearMe, taking that company public in 1998. His two
decades of operations experience include eight years with Adaptec, where he was Vice
President and General Manager of the SCSI host adapter division. Paul served as a
Resident Entrepreneur for Institutional Venture Partners in 1995 and was an advisor to
Accel Partners, Redpoint Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures in the 1990s. Paul received
an M.B.A. from Stanford University, an M.A. in International Studies from Johns Hopkins
and a B.A. from the University of the Pacific. With his partners, Paul led investments
in Trovix and 3Ware. He is currently on the boards of Factery, Gear6, Intransa,
LimeLife, Total Beauty, and Winster. Paul also serves as a trustee of the World's
Affairs Council and is a board member of the University of the Pacific's School of
International Studies and of the Business School at Montana State University in
Bozeman. He is a frequent lecturer at business schools, including Notre Dame, Montana
State and U.C. Davis.
Paul's interests on the technology landscape: consumer and business services, audience
measurement and aggregation, storage and enterprise applications and reinventing the
industrial food system. "The models point to a peaking of the world's population at
between nine and ten billion people around 2050. Getting from here to there without
massive starvation and environmental damage is a major challenge for governments and
businesses. But it is also an enormous opportunity for entrepreneurs, with creative
ideas, to build valuable companies that address these issues."
On the natural landscape: "Building an American Serengeti"--an ambitious undertaking
Paul is pursuing with the American Prairie Foundation, to recreate and preserve vast
portions of the nation's prairie lands. Paul loves the Wild West, an attitude that
causes him to spend time in Montana as often as possible.
A grandson of Italian immigrants, Paul followed his heritage from San Francisco to
Florence, Italy, where he attended cooking school. He's blending his passions for
cooking and the environment into a series of fundraising dinners for APF--"Lewis and
Clark: Cooking of the Jeffersonian Era." Checkout his website and blog at
www.foodcrunch.com .
Favorite Books: A River Runs Through It by Norman MacLean, because "it reminded
me of growing up with my father and brother," and The Omnivore's Dilemma by
Michael Pollan which describes how industrial food is destroying our health and our
planet.
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U.S. Venture Partners
2735 Sand Hill Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Telephone: (650) 854-9080
Fax: (650) 854-3018
www.usvp.com
