Don Rainey – General Partner, Grotech Ventures
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Don Rainey joined Grotech Ventures as a general partner in September 2007. With over $1B US under management, Grotech focuses on early stage information technology companies. Don currently serves on the boards of Grotech portfolio companies Clarabridge, HelloWallet, LivingSocial , Personal, SnappCloud, and Zenoss, as well as the Northern Virginia Chapter of the March of Dimes.
In Fall 2008, Don was appointed for a second term as an emerging technology consultant to the Chief Information Officer of the US Department of Defense through the DeVenCi Program. The DeVenCi Program consists of a handful of venture capitalists who research and nominate companies to solve the US Department of Defenses’s unmet technology needs.
Don is also an Organizing Board member of the prestigious MindShare forum. In this role, he helps CEOs from the Greater Washington Metropolitan region’s most promising start-ups build long-term sustainable companies. This invitation-only group provides its annual CEO class with an opportunity to meet peers, Organizing Board members and prominent speakers in an intimate setting to exchange ideas and discuss current issues facing start-up companies. To date, more than 400 CEOs have graduated from the program, including some of the area’s most notable entrepreneurs.
Don’s long history in the tech industry includes serving as president at Attitude Network, one of the first online entertainment networks, which was sold to TheGlobe.com in 1999. He also managed channel distribution and brand marketing in 50 countries for IBM’s $2 billion network hardware division and served as COO of DaVinci Systems where he spearheaded the company’s acquisition by ON Technology. Don designed and launched Novell’s much-emulated global Authorized Dealer Program in the late 80’s. He currently heads the Capital Formation Committee for the Northern Virginia Technology Council.
Don earned a B.B.A. from James Madison University and a M.S. in Bioscience Management from George Mason University. He serves on the Executive Advisory Council for the College of Business at James Madison University and he is an adjunct professor at American University where he teaches graduate courses entitled “New Venture Finance” and “Venture Capital and Private Equity”.
Don previously served on the Enterprise Investment Advisory Committee for the State of Maryland, and the Investment Advisory Board of the State of Virginia’s Growth Acceleration Program (GAP) as well as the board of the Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Foundation.
from www.grotech.com
Interview Air Date: April 30, 2011
