Mark Cree Joins El Dorado Ventures and Vesbridge Partnersl
November 18, 2004
Menlo Park, CA, and Westborough, MA (November 18, 2004) – El Dorado
Ventures and Vesbridge Partners, LLC, today announced that Mark Cree has joined both
firms as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR), focusing on investment opportunities
in the enterprise networking, web services and security markets. At Vesbridge,
Cree also serves as venture partner.
Previously, Cree served as co-founder, Chairman and CEO of NuSpeed Internet Systems,
a storage area networking company. El Dorado Ventures provided initial funding to NuSpeed, a
long with Crescendo Ventures. NuSpeed was acquired in 2000 by Cisco Systems. After NuSpeed’s
acquisition by Cisco, Cree served as general manager of Cisco’s Storage Router Business Unit.
In his role as an EIR with Vesbridge and El Dorado, Cree will help both firms identify
and support new investments in fast-growing IT markets such as enterprise networking, web services and
security markets.
“Mark brings deep operational and entrepreneurial experience to Vesbridge Partners
and El Dorado, with an unmatched level of technical expertise and understanding of the storage and
networking markets,” said Jeff Hinck, Senior Managing Director of Vesbridge Partners, who was formerly
a General Partner with Crescendo Ventures. “Mark will be a critical part of our team as we identify
and fund promising companies in these markets.”
Charles Beeler, General Partner at El Dorado Ventures, added: “Mark did a great
job at NuSpeed and we’re pleased to have the opportunity to work with him again. We’re looking
forward to teaming up once again with both Mark and Vesbridge Partners in seeking new investment
opportunities.”
“There are a number of emerging opportunities for innovative storage, web services and
security applications and technologies and I look forward to working with the teams at Vesbridge and
El Dorado to turn this opportunities into viable businesses,” said Cree. “The deep operational and market
experience of both teams will be invaluable as we build companies to address these opportunities from
inception to market acceptance.”
Prior to NuSpeed/Cisco, Cree was Vice President of Marketing at
terabit-router-developer NEO Networks. Cree also served as the Director of Marketing
at Switched Network Technologies and successfully brought one of the first IP
routers to market at networking pioneer Network Systems Corporation (NSC) in the early 1990’s.
Cree started his career as a software developer at Control Data Corporation. Cree
holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and a BS in Business and Information Systems
from the University of Minnesota.
About El Dorado Ventures
Founded in 1986, El Dorado Ventures (EDV) is a leading early-stage venture
capital firm that invests across the technology sector and focuses primarily
on semiconductors and systems, communications, software and services.
El Dorado has an 18-year track record of successful early-stage technology
investing, including early investments in Cyras Systems, EarthLink,
Efficient Networks, Novellus and NuSpeed Internet Systems. Numerous
EDV portfolio companies have gone public or been acquired by major
technology companies, including Ciena, Cisco Systems, nVidia, Siemens,
Texas Instruments and Yahoo/Inktomi. Entrepreneurs see EDV as a trusted
investment partner who shares their vision. The firm helps entrepreneurs
succeed by providing them with strategic guidance and access to a
wealth of industry contacts. For more information, please visit
www.eldorado.com
About Vesbridge Partners
Vesbridge Partners thrives on helping early-stage, leading-edge networking and
IT infrastructure companies bring their software and service platforms to
enterprise and carrier markets. Vesbridge Partners, headquartered
in Boston, Mass., has a long history as part of St. Paul Venture Capital (SPVC),
a well established early-stage venture capital firm with a strong track
record over the past 15 years of helping finance some of the industry’s
most successful technology companies. Additional information can be found
at the firm's website at www.vesbridge.com
At the end of the day, managing the risk in any inherently risky early-stage
company is about active investment management. This means general partners need to take
on fewer projects and practice a hands-on approach. They should be talking to their
companies weekly, even more often if possible. It's never about just showing up
at board meetings and writing checks — it's about constant communication and
really working together through all the issues.
Note to Editors:
Vesbridge and Vesbridge Partners are trademarks of Vesbridge Partners LLC.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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