On October 18, San Francisco, CA-based Shield Capital announced that Michael Brown and John “JJ” Jack have joined Shield Capital as venture partners. These accomplished leaders will bring proprietary deal-flow to the firm and seasoned management, industry expertise, and go-to-market leadership to SHIELD’s portfolio companies, the company said.
“We are honored that these distinguished leaders will partner with SHIELD in our mission,” noted Philip Bilden, managing partner. “Mike and JJ bring decades of senior management, technology leadership, and board governance to support SHIELD’s innovators who will secure our future.”
Michael Brown and John Jack have built and scaled market-leading technology companies over thirty years. Their experience and networks will bolster SHIELD’s efforts to support company founders solving important problems in artificial intelligence, autonomy, cybersecurity, and space vital to commercial and government customers.
Michael Brown most recently led the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) since 2018 as its 3rd director responsible for sourcing strategic technology advantage from America’s innovation ecosystem. His prior work as a Presidential Innovation Fellow helped catalyze the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, which provided expanded jurisdiction to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Prior to distinguished government service, Brown led Symantec Corporation as CEO, a global leader in cybersecurity and the world’s 10th largest software company. Brown previously served as chairman and CEO of Quantum Corporation, a leader in the computer storage industry which he joined in 1984 and on whose board of directors he served from 1995 until 2014.
“Having worked in start-ups and large public companies, I look forward to helping SHIELD identify and build innovative companies with impactful missions,” said Brown. “As we are seeing in the Ukraine conflict, commercial technology is becoming even more important in advancing national security. Our military can leverage this technology to modernize capabilities and save taxpayer dollars.”
John Jack has worked in the software industry in sales, marketing, and senior leadership and executive management. He served as CEO at Fortify Software (acquired by Hewlett Packard), CEO of Covalent (acquired by VMware), and COO at The Vantive (acquired by PeopleSoft). Jack has decades of expertise in scaling and growing software companies. He started his career at Sybase, eventually becoming their SVP of Sales.
“I have been helping build impactful companies for many years. I am excited to join SHIELD to continue serving early-stage founders as they build frontier technology for a broader and stronger customer base,” said Jack. “The SHIELD team is mission-focused and funding innovation that matters.”
“Mike and JJ are proven leaders and mentors. We are excited to have them onboard to invest in America’s core strategic advantages: our technology and talent,” said Raj Shah, managing partner at Shield Capital. “Their mentorship will have a tremendous impact on the success of our company founders.”
Source: Shield Capital
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