Michael is a serial entrepreneur of more than two decades turned investor for more than a decade and now he is also mentoring, continuously learning, and teaching entrepreneurship.
Most recently, Michael was a General Partner at North Bridge Venture Partners where he initiated ventures with innovators, and invested in many great entrepreneurs who went on to build billions of dollars of value focusing on large market opportunities such as eCommerce and Big Data. Michael focuses on breakthrough technologies & disruptive business models such as SaaS, Cloud, Open Source & Mobile. He is the founder of the Future of Open Source & Future of Cloud Computing industry collaborations that gave rise to the broadest collaborative industry wide surveys of their kind.
Prior to becoming an investor, Michael was an entrepreneur and CEO in the software business himself for 21 years. Michael founded and recruited teams that attracted over $100m in private equity for investments in multiple software companies ranging from Enterprise Big Data & Analytics (AlphaBlox - acq by IBM) to Security & Consumer products (Symantec UK - NASDAQ:SYMC) while spanning the Workstation, PC, Client Server & Internet eras.
Michael has served on many private & public 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 many ongoing investments such as Acquia, Demandware(NYSE:DWRE), and Salsify as well as a founding advisor with Cazena. Michael is also an advisor to various seed, accelerator, crowdfunding organizations and to his direct investments.
Michael's passion for innovation & entrepreneurship is fueling his work mentoring & developing the next generation of leaders. He is an EIR at Harvard Business School and teaches the "Startup Secrets" series he started with the Harvard iLab all around the world. See startupsecrets.com, mjskok.com and follow Michael on twitter @mjskok
Entrepreneur in Residence @ Mentoring, learning and teaching at HBS and Harvard i Lab From September 2015 to Present (4 months) Greater Boston AreaPartner @ From September 2015 to Present (4 months) Greater Boston AreaLead Investor and Board Member @ From 2008 to Present (7 years) Co-Lead Investor and Board Member @ See http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130912113622-1893586-just-do-it-right-from-the-start for details. From July 2013 to Present (2 years 6 months) Co-Lead investor and Board Member @ From 2011 to Present (4 years) Co-Lead Investor and Board Member @ From 2004 to June 2015 (11 years) Greater Boston AreaLead Investors and Board Member @ From December 2013 to March 2015 (1 year 4 months) Board Member and Investor @ From 2008 to September 2014 (6 years) Greater Boston AreaGeneral Partner @ Michael Skok, Partner, helps take software companies from concept to completion – just as he did as an entrepreneur and CEO. Michael has a reputation among entrepreneurs for acumen in many spheres: people, technology, and markets, but most of all, company building. From 2002 to September 2014 (12 years) CEO, Founder @ Michael co-founded Alphablox whose team defined the market for Analytical Applications, now a multi billion dollar market. After building a trusted brand with a loyal customer base among leading global 1000 companies, AlphaBlox was acquired by IBM. From March 1996 to March 2001 (5 years 1 month) Chairman and CEO @ Michael founded European Software Publishing (ESP) which pioneered the off balance sheet model for building software companies in Europe. Thanks to a strong management team, 4 of these publishers were acquired by Siebel, Platinum, Filenet and Banyan and two went Public. This included the team that built Symantec UK into one of Symantec's most profitable international businesses while managing many acquisitions through to Symantec's IPO and enduring industry status. From 1988 to 1995 (7 years) Managing Director @ From 1987 to 1992 (5 years)
Michael Skok is skilled in: Cloud Computing, Start-ups, Open Source, E-commerce, Venture Capital, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Mobile Applications, Entrepreneurship, Mobile Technology, Amateur Photographer, SaaS, Open Source Software, Product Management, Enterprise Software
Websites:
http://www.startupsecrets.com,
http://www.mjskok.com