Jeffrey Housenbold, our Chairman, is currently a leading venture capitalist, funding and advising the next generation of exceptional entrepreneurs who want to change the world in truly transformational ways. He is a widely recognized visionary CEO with 28 years of experience in leading, operating, and investing in hyper-growth consumer and enterprise companies. Mr. Housenbold has invested, coached, advised, and served on numerous public and private boards, including DoorDash (NYSE:DASH), Shutterfly, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFLY), Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ:CZR), Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN), OpenDoor (NASDAQ: OPEN) and Chegg (NYSE:CHGG).
Mr. Housenbold is Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, helping manage and lead the firm’s $100 billion Vision Fund I and $10 billion Vision Fund II. Some of his investments include DoorDash, Rappi, Compass, Opendoor, Memphis Meats, Plenty, Forward, Tempo, GetYourGuide, Clutter, Globality, WHOOP, and Ordermark. Prior to SoftBank, Mr. Housenbold was an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Sutter Hill Ventures, where he advised the firm on enterprise and consumer investments, and a Special Industry Advisor to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) a leading private equity firm.
From 2005 to 2016, Mr. Housenbold served as President and CEO of the award winning public company Shutterfly, Inc. When he joined, he was the fourth CEO in four years and the company was focused on survival, not growth. Despite macro-economic, industry, and cultural headwinds, he refocused and motivated the teams, growing the company’s global consumer base and developing innovative technology platforms that delivered robust and easy-to-use life-sharing solutions to millions of customers. In addition, Mr. Housenbold created Shutterfly’s Enterprise business serving Fortune 500 companies and diversified revenue streams and seasonality of the business. He raised capital from leading VCs, conducted a successful IPO in 2006, and successfully acquired 17 companies, transforming Shutterfly into the 5th largest stand-alone ecommerce company in the United States. During his tenure he generated 20x plus returns for his venture investors.
Prior to Shutterfly, Mr. Housenbold was Vice President of Business Development & Internet Marketing at eBay, where he managed customer acquisition and retention and completed several high-profile deals with Google, Microsoft, Disney, AOL, and Yahoo. At eBay, he also held positions as Founder, Vice President and General Manager of its Business-to-Consumer Group and Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions.
Formerly, Mr. Housenbold held senior management positions with AltaVista, including Vice President and General Manager where he oversaw all business operations except engineering, and Vice President of Corporate & Business Development where he signed deals with or bought over 100 companies. He joined AltaVista through the acquisition of Raging Bull, the award-winning fintech company where he was the tenth employee and served as Chief Operating Officer.
Previously, Mr. Housenbold was Vice President of Corporate Development at WinStar Communications where he focused on internet, film, television, and radio acquisitions and investments, and Manager and Co-founder of Accenture’s Media & Entertainment Strategy Group.
Mr. Housenbold has been recognized as an E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year, a Most Admired CEO by the San Francisco Times, Top 5 Rising Star in Venture Capital, and one of The 40 Under 40 by both BusinessWeek and Corporate Leader magazines. He has been featured in leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, ReCode, and TechCrunch, and is a frequent guest and contributor on CNBC, Fox News, Bloomberg, NBC, and PBS. In addition, Mr. Housenbold has been a guest lecturer at leading top business schools including Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, MIT and Berkeley.
Mr. Housenbold earned his MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Dean’s Fellow. His undergraduate degrees are in Business Administration and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University, where he was an Andrew Carnegie Presidential Scholar and graduated with high honors.
Dan McCormick, our CFO, is an executive with extensive strategy, finance and M&A experience. He has successfully grown businesses, built world-class teams, identified break-through strategies, and driven strong corporate cultures. Most recently, Mr. McCormick served as Shutterfly Inc’s COO and SVP & General Manager, responsible for the consumer business’ revenue and P&L. He drove the strategic direction for the company’s eight premium lifestyle brands. During his tenure, Mr. McCormick played a leading role in driving a 20x increase of key business metrics including growing revenue from $54 million to $1.16 billion, increasing