With 30 years in the venture industry, helping new ideas become significant companies, and the last 15 years learning what works, and what does not work, to change lives in the developing world, D-Rev seems the ideal opportunity to marry world class product design capability with pragmatic, market driven solutions to solve problems that can change the lives of millions.
After graduating from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Bill began his career as a Special Education teacher, then worked in Community Mental Health programs before becoming an Executive Recruiter and then co-founding his own firm. He joined Mayfield Fund in 1983. He served in leadership positions on many corporate and not-for profit boards, and continues to advise early stage technology companies.
Representative investments include Sandisk (SNDK), Silicon Architects (acquired by Synopsys (SNPS), Calico Commerce (acquired by Oracle(ORCL), Newport Communications (acquired by Broadcom (BRCM), Stream Machine (acquired by Cirrus Logic (CRUS), Simplex Solutions (acquired by Cadence (CDN), Excess Bandwidth Corporation (acquired by Virata (VRTA), Verplex Design Systems (acquired by Cadence (CDN), Nextest (acquired by Teradyne (TER), Sabio Labs (acquired by Magma (LAVA) and Berkeley Design Automation (acquired by Mentor Graphics (MENT).
Bill’s current philanthropic activities include; Board member of CARE USA, CARE Enterprises LLC, Microvest, D-Rev, and Wildlife Conservation Network, and he serves on the Deans’ Advisory Board of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Other organizations he has served include; past board chair of the Career Action Center, YouthNoise, and former Vice Chairman of the Anita Borg Institute. He was an advisor to the Dean of Engineering of University of California at Berkeley, a member of The Philanthropy Workshop and Legacy Ventures, and is an active supporter of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2).