Michael C. Brooks is a venture capital veteran with over 25 years’ experience under his belt. Highly decorated, highly active, and highly influential, Brooks is an expert in financial services and information technology investments, making him an asset to any entrepreneur.
Armed with a MBA from the Harvard Business School, as well as a BA in History from Yale, Brooks has built an impressive professional career, serving as Managing Partner with J.H Whitney & Co. for 15 years, and Managing Director with Morgan Stanley & Co. for 11 years. In 2000, Brooks joined forces with the VC firm Venrock, where he currently serves as a Partner.
Brooks remains actively involved, serving on a number of boards: Director of Circle Lending, MaMaMedia Inc., Aritas Securities LLC, MessageOne, Inc., Optinuity, Inc., Pipeline Trading, Highpoint Systems, Inc. and IP Commerce, Inc. He serves as a Trustee of Hospital for Special Surgery, Inc. and Director of Digital Railroad Inc. since June 14, 2005; a Director of Spotlight Solutions, Inc. and Evergreen Assurance; Director of Xanadoo Company, LLC, JMXI Liquidating Trust, JupiterResearch, LLC; as a designee of the Whitney Group. Yes, there’s more: he has served on the Boards of DecisionOne, Homestore.com, MediaMetrix, Niku, P-Com and Pegasus Communications. He served as a Director of PerformanceRetail Inc. He served as a Director of Sungard Data Systems Inc., since 1985, and USinternetworking, Inc. since December 1998. Mr. Brooks has also served as a Director of the National Venture Capital Association. Brooks helps guide emerging companies manage and finance their businesses—earning him a place of distinction on Forbes’ Midas list several times.
VC Firm:
Partner at Venrock (Founded 1969)
Sector Focus:
Information Technology, Digital Media, Enterprise Software, Financial Services
Selected Investments:
CollegeBoard.com (acquired by The College Board)
Fogdog (acquired by GSI)
MediaMetrix (acquired by ComScore)
MessageOne (acquired by Dell)
Niku Corp. (acquired by CA)
Optinuity (acquired by CA)
Performance Retail (acquired by Dresser Industries)
Semtek (acquired by Verifone)
Spotlight/Profitlogic (acquired by Oracle)
Taleo (NASDAQ: TLEO), USInternetworking (acquired by AT&T)
Boards:
Digital Railroad Inc- Board Member
Pipeline Trading Systems LLC – Board Member
MessageOne Inc – Board Member
Optinuity Inc – Board Member
Ibex Outdoor Clothing LLC – Director
US Cycling Development Foundation – Trustee
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association – Member of Board of Trustees
PerformanceRetail Inc – Board Member
SunGard companies – Director, Chmn Compensation Committee, Executive Committee
USinternetworking Inc – Board Member
Niku Corporation- Board Member
National Venture Capital Association – Director
Pegasus Communications , Inc. – Board Member
Media Metrix , Inc.- Board Member
Homestore , Inc. – Board Member
Expertise Areas:
Finance, Information Technology, Venture Capital, Mobile, Startups
Blogs, Twitter & Website:
