Margit Wennmachers Explained


Margit Wennmachers
Education:University of Lippstadt, Germany
Occupation:Venture Capitalist, Andreessen Horowitz

Margit Wennmachers is a venture capitalist at the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and a co-founder of OutCast Communications (now The OutCast Agency), one of the tech world's top public relations firms according to The New York Times.[1] She is one of a handful of women at high-profile venture capital firms[2] and among the few venture capital marketing executives at the partner level.

Biography

Born and raised in Breberen, Germany, Wennmachers' father was a mushroom farmer who pivoted to raising pigs. She was the youngest of four children.[3] Her mother died in a car accident when she was 18.[4] Wennmachers earned a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Lippstadt, Germany.[5]

Career

Wennmachers began her career in the European office of a U.S.-based startup.[6] She later moved to San Francisco to join Blanc & Otus, a high-tech communications firm. In 1997, she co-founded OutCast Communications with Caryn Marooney. By 2010, their clients had included Facebook, Autodesk, Amazon, Yahoo!, EMC, Netflix, Cisco, Zimbra and VMware, as well as Andreessen Horowitz. Under her’ leadership, OutCast grew from two employees to a multimillion-dollar business.

Wennmachers became a partner of Andreessen Horowitz in September 2010[7] to help identify and evaluate new start-ups for investment potential and advise the firm and its portfolio companies on marketing and branding.[8] Andreessen Horowitz's investments include Twitter, Jawbone,[9] Facebook, Foursquare, Groupon, and Zynga.[10]

Wennmachers became a non-executive director at Next Fifteen Communications Group plc in 2011.[11] She also serves on the board of trustees for the World Affairs Council.[12] She has been a speaker at the DLD Conference in 2011[13] and 2013,[14] Ad: Tech in 2012,[15] Upward in 2014,[16] and The Spark in 2016.[17]

Wennmachers was named to Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal's list of 100 Women of Influence for 2012.[18]

References

  1. News: Andreessen Horowitz Hires a Female Partner. Cain Miller. Claire. 15 June 2010. The New York Times. 18 April 2012.
  2. Web site: Exclusive: OutCast's Wennmachers Joins Andreessen Horowitz as Partner. Swisher. Kara. Kara Swisher. All Things D. The Wall Street Journal. 18 April 2012.
  3. The Spin Master Behind Facebook, Airbnb, and Silicon Valley As You Know It. Hempel. Jessi. 2018-01-21. Wired. 2018-12-27. 1059-1028.
  4. How to Win Founders and Influence Everybody. Hempel. Jessi. 21 January 2018. Wired. 24 January 2018.
  5. Web site: Outdated Values: Germany in the Age of Disruption. www.handelsblatt.com. en. 2019-12-03.
  6. Web site: The real queen of Silicon Valley. 2 October 2014.
  7. Web site: Andreessen Horowitz Hires a Female Partner. Miller. Claire Cain. 2010-06-15. Bits Blog. en-US. 2019-07-22.
  8. News: Venture Firms Offer More Than Just Cash. Chapman. Lizette. 4 April 2012. The Wall Street Journal. 18 April 2012.
  9. Web site: The real queen of Silicon Valley. Ozy. Lorena O'Neil. 2014-10-02. CNNMoney. 2019-07-22.
  10. Web site: Portfolio Companies (Entire Portfolio). Andreessen Horowitz. 18 April 2012.
  11. Web site: Next Fifteen appoints Margit Wennmachers as non-executive director. News. The Drum. 18 April 2012.
  12. Web site: Council Leadership. About Us. World Affairs Council. 18 April 2012.
  13. Web site: DLD11 - The Communications Difference (Brandee Barker, Brooke Hammerling, Margit Wennmachers). YouTube. DLD. 14 November 2016.
  14. Web site: DLDwomen13: Where are Marla Zuckerberg, Mary Jobs and Joan Bezos? (Margit Wennmachers). YouTube. DLD. 14 November 2016.
  15. Web site: CNET News: Are leading tech companies vulnerable?. YouTube. Ad: Tech. 14 November 2016.
  16. Web site: UPWARD Topical Discussion: Women in Venture Capital (April 17, 2014). YouTube. Upwards. 14 November 2016.
  17. Web site: Talk mit Margit Wennmachers: "Investoren müssen Start-Ups in Ruhe arbeiten lassen". Handelsblatt.com. Handelsblatt. 14 November 2016.
  18. Web site: Women of Influence: Margit Wennmachers. Silicon Valley's Women of Influence 2012. San Jose Business Journal. 18 April 2012.

External links

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