Mike Volpi
{{Unreliable sources|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mike Volpi
| image = Mike Volpi.png
| alt =
| caption = Mike Volpi in 2015
| birth_name = Michelangelo Volpi
| birth_date = December 13, 1966
| nationality = Italian-American
| education =
| alma_mater = Stanford University
| other_names =
| occupation = Venture capitalist, businessperson
| employer = Partner at Index Ventures
| boards = Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Castilleja School, Knight-Hennessy Scholars
| years_active = 1989-present
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Michelangelo "Mike" Volpi (born 13 December 1966) is an Italian-American businessman and venture capitalist.
He worked as an engineer, eventually becoming chief strategy officer at Cisco Systems during the company’s growth era, acquiring over 70 companies in less than five years.{{Cite news |title= Michaelangelo Volpi Vice-president, business development Cisco Systems |work= Business Week |author= Andy Reinhardt |date= August 25, 1997 |url= http://www.businessweek.com/1997/34/b354172.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20000527183028/http://businessweek.com/1997/34/b354172.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= May 27, 2000 |accessdate= June 2, 2013 }}{{cite web |title= Forbes.com profile |website= Forbes|url= https://www.forbes.com/profile/mike-volpi/}}
He co-founded Index Ventures’ San Francisco office with Danny Rimer in 2009.
Early life and education
Volpi was born in Milan, Italy. When he was five, his family moved to Tokyo, Japan, where he lived until he moved to the United States in 1984 to attend college.
He earned a BS in mechanical engineering (1984-1988) and an MS in manufacturing systems engineering (1988-1989) from Stanford University.{{Cite web |title= Mike Volpi |work= LinkedIn profile |url= http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=15020024 |accessdate= June 2, 2013 }} After working at HP for several years, returned to Stanford to earn an M.B.A. from the Graduate School of Business (1992-1994).
Career
=HP=
Volpi began his career at Hewlett Packard's optoelectronics division in 1989 where he was both in engineering and marketing.
While at HP, he met his future wife Toni C. Cupal.[http://www.nndb.com/people/610/000138196/ Mike Volpi], nndb.com
=Cisco=
Volpi joined Cisco Systems in 1994 in the nascent business development group. He was promoted to leading acquisitions at Cisco starting in April 1996. As chief strategy officer he led corporate strategy, business development, and strategic alliances. Their acquisition strategy of Volpi and his team at Cisco is used as model for technology mergers and acquisitions.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110628202245/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_09/b3721084.htm Can Mike Volpi Make Cisco Sizzle Again? - Businessweek] he was promoted to the chief strategy office working for CEO John Chambers until 2000. Some press speculated he was heir apparent to Chambers.{{cite news|url= https://allthingsd.com/20070913/kara-visits-with-joosts-mike-volpi-part-1/ |title= Kara Visits With Joost's Mike Volpi, Part 1 |first=Kara |last=Swisher |author-link=Kara Swisher |website= allthingsd.com |date=2007-09-13 |access-date=2023-08-23}}[http://news.cnet.com/Mike-Volpis-trek-from-Cisco-to-Joost/2008-1023_3-6189080.html Mike Volpi's trek from Cisco to Joost - CNET News]
Moving into an operational role as a senior vice president and general manager, he led the routing and switching teams, then co-led the routing and service provider group with Prem Jain until 2007.[http://news.cnet.com/Cisco-veteran-Volpi-to-step-down/2100-1014_3-6157393.html?tag=lia;rcol Cisco veteran Volpi to step down – CNET News]
During this time Cisco's first Carrier Routing System product was announced, the CRS-1, in 2004.{{Cite news |title= CRS-1: The Foundation for the Future of Communications |date= May 25, 2004 |work= News release |url= http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2004/hd_052504.html |archivedate= June 3, 2004 |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20040603053747/http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2004/hd_052504.html |accessdate= June 2, 2013 }}
=Entrepreneurship=
After Cisco in 2007 he became entrepreneur in residence (EIR) at Sequoia Capital.
A few months later, he was appointed CEO of Joost,{{cite news |title= Elevator Pitch: Mike Volpi on his past at Cisco and the future of Android |url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2014/03/10/elevator-pitch-mike-volpi-on-his-past-at-cisco-and-the-future-of-android/ |work= The Mercury News |date= March 10, 2014}}{{cite news |title= Volpi Leaves Joost for Index Ventures |url=http://www.adweek.com/digital/volpi-leaves-joost-for-index-ventures/ |work= AdWeek |date= July 6, 2009}}[http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090706/mike-volpi-jumps-from-joost-to-index-a-boomtown-interview-and-full-press-release/ Interview: Mike Volpi, Former Joost CEO, Now at Index Ventures - Kara Swisher - News - AllThingsD][https://web.archive.org/web/20090707230303/http://gigaom.com/2009/07/06/former-joost-ceo-mike-volpi-jumps-to-index-ventures/ Former Joost CEO Mike Volpi Jumps to Index Ventures — Tech News and Analysis][http://www.businessinsider.com/mike-volpi-out-as-joost-chairman-2009-9 Mike Volpi Out As Joost Chairman – Business Insider] an Internet startup focused on online TV which was founded by Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis.[http://eetimes.eu/en/joost-taps-cisco-vp-mike-volpi-as-ceo?cmp_id=7&news_id=199901152 Joost taps Cisco VP Mike Volpi as CEO – Electronics Eetimes]
In September 2009, a lawsuit was filed against Volpi by Skype’s founders in conjunction with the proposed divestiture of Skype from eBay.{{cite news| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125328729155823251#mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTWhatsNews | work=The Wall Street Journal | first=Geoffrey A. | last=Fowler | title=Skype Founders File Another Suit in eBay Saga | date=21 September 2009}} The lawsuit was dropped in November 2009.[http://kara.allthingsd.com/20091104/i-love-the-smell-of-settlement-in-the-morning-skype-founders-set-to-get-10-percent-option-to-buy-three-percent-more-and-two-board-seats/ Skype Lawsuit Settlement Details – Kara Swisher – News – AllThingsD]
=Index Ventures and Joost CEO=
At Index Ventures, Volpi invests in early-stage companies, primarily across autonomous driving, enterprise and open source.{{cite news |title= A "Perfect Storm" Moment for Multibillion-Dollar Open Source Companies|url=https://www.recode.net/2014/3/25/11624942/a-perfect-storm-moment-for-multibillion-dollar-open-source-companies |work= recode |date= March 24, 2014}} Volpi has served on the boards of Index portfolio companies Big Switch Networks, Blue Bottle Coffee (acquired by Nestle),{{cite news |title= Nestlé acquires a majority stake in Blue Bottle Coffee at a valuation north of $700M|url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/14/nestle-acquires-a-majority-stake-in-blue-bottle-coffee/ |work= TechCrunch |date= September 14, 2017}} Confluent Software, Elastic, Hortonworks, Lookout, Pure Storage, Sonos, Ubiquity6, and Zuora.{{cite news |title= Index Ventures' Mike Volpi on Enterprise Investments|url=https://www.recode.net/2014/6/12/11627922/index-ventures-mike-volpi-on-enterprise-investments |work= recode |date= June 12, 2014}}{{cite news |title= Ask A VC: Index Ventures' Mike Volpi On What To Look For In A Board Member And More|url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/05/03/ask-a-vc-index-ventures-mike-volpi-on-what-to-look-for-in-a-board-member-and-more/ |work= TechCrunch |date= September 14, 2017}}
During Volpi's time at Index, the grew its office in San Francisco to an equal presence on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.{{cite news |title= Index Ventures Has A New, $550 Million Fund, And A New Partner |url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/02/03/index-ventures-has-a-new-550-million-fund-and-a-new-partner-too/ |work= TechCrunch |date= February 3, 2016}} From 2012 to 2018, the firm had six initial public offerings in the US, including Dropbox, Etsy, Sonos and Zuora, and has invested in early rounds of companies including self-driving car startup Aurora,{{cite news |title= Aurora On The Rise: Robocar Startup Snags $90 Million, Adds Reid Hoffman, Mike Volpi To Board|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2018/02/28/aurora-on-the-rise-robocar-startup-snags-90-million-adds-reid-hoffman-mike-volpi-to-board/#be92b342f331 |work= Forbes |date= February 28, 2018}} Bird and Robinhood.{{cite news |title= Index Ventures Has Been on a Run. Now It's Raising Funds to Keep It Up.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/09/business/dealbook/index-ventures-funds.html |work= New York Times |date= July 9, 2018}}
Councils and boards
Volpi is a non-executive board member of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, an independent director of European investment firm Exor,{{cite news |title= Agnelli heir makes bet on family fortune |url= https://www.ft.com/content/ba2b8b4a-12cb-11e7-80f4-13e067d5072c |work= FT |date= April 4, 2017}} and was a board member of Swedish mobile giant Ericsson from 2010 to 2013.[http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/press/releases/2010/03/1391510 Two new members nominated to Board of Directors – Ericsson][http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/press/releases/2013/03/1683132 Ericsson's Annual General Meeting 2013 - Ericsson] He served on the board(s) of Opsware (now HP),[http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20030820005196/en/Opsware-Adds-Independent-Board-Members-Noted-Industry Opsware Inc. Adds Two New Independent Board Members; Noted Industry Leaders Mike Volpi and Mike Homer Elected to Board of Directors | Business Wire] TIBCO Software, Skype, StorSimple, Cloud.com, and Clearwire.
Volpi serves sits on the board of Castilleja School, an independent school for girls grades six through twelve in Palo Alto, California,{{cite web |title= Castilleja School: Board of Trustees |url= http://www.castilleja.org/page.cfm?p=940954}} and is a Global Advisory Board Member at Knight-Hennessy Scholars, an international graduate-level scholarship program for study at Stanford University.{{cite web |title= Stanford University Knight-Hennessy Scholars |url= https://knight-hennessy.stanford.edu/people/michael-volpi}} He served on the board of Witness, a non-profit organization that uses video to find human rights violations,[http://www.witness.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1046&Itemid=168 Human Rights Videos | witness.org] and on the advisory council for the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Personal life
Volpi is trilingual, and married with 2 children.
His father is Vittorio Volpi, an executive at the United Bank of Switzerland.
Awards
- Forbes Midas List: World's Smartest Tech Investors, 2015{{cite news|title=The Midas List 2015|url=https://www.forbes.com/midas/#tab:overall_page:10|accessdate=7 April 2015|work=Forbes.com|issue=Midas List|date=25 March 2015}}
- MIT Technology Review - Innovators Under 35, 1999{{cite web |title= MIT Technology Review: Innovators Under 35|url= http://www2.technologyreview.com/tr35/profile.aspx?TRID=540}}
- Network World: 1999 Power Issue – 25 Most Powerful People in Networking[http://www.networkworld.com/power99/power99-25volpi.html Mike Volpi, 12/27/99] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014214254/http://www.networkworld.com/power99/power99-25volpi.html |date=2012-10-14 }}, Network World
- The New York Times' and CB Insights' 2018 list of the top 100 venture capitalists worldwide featured Volpi at number 34.{{cite web |title= The Top 100 Venture Capitalists |date= 31 March 2019|url= https://www.cbinsights.com/research/top-venture-capital-partners/}}