Bio
In addition to his teaching at Stanford GSB, Don is a partner at the venture capital firm DFJ and senior advisor to Energy Impact Partners, PIVA Capital, and the Xfund. Don spent the first 20 years of his career as a consultant at McKinsey and as a founder and/or executive in Silicon Valley tech companies. He has been a venture capitalist for the last 25 years in partnerships that have invested in over 500 hundred technology startups, including 40 companies that have achieved valuations of over $1 billion (e.g. Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity, Planet, Proterra, Ring, Athena Health, Vocera, Box, Redfin, Twilio, Skype, Network Appliance, Cienna. He has worked and invested in communications, enterprise software, consumer web, and climate tech. Don led the expansion of the DFJ Global Network to establish VC funds in China, Russia, Brazil, UK, Israel, Japan, Viet Nam, and Korea. Don has served on 15 public and private Boards. Don earned his BA and MBA degrees from Stanford.
Research Interests
- Venture Capital
- Entrepreneurship
- Leadership and Team Building
- Business Strategy
- Sustainable Energy
- Energy Efficiency
Stanford University Affiliations
- Board of Directors Stanford DAPER Fund
Academic Degrees
- BA, Economics, Stanford University, 1976
- MBA, Stanford GSB, 1980
Professional Experience
- DFJ, 2006-present
- Vanguard Ventures, 1998-2006
- Octel Communications, 1991-1994
- Metricom, 1995-1998
- Wood-Howard Products, 1989-1990
- International Power Technology, 1984-89
- McKinsey and Company, 1980-1983
- US EPA, 1976-1978