Name Bill Maris | Role Venture capitalist | |
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Similar People Tristan Prettyman, Rich Miner, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Ray Kurzweil | ||
Google ventures boss bill maris on the two most important things enterpreneurs must focus on
Bill Maris is an entrepreneur and prominent venture capitalist focused on technology and the life sciences. He is the founder and first CEO of Google Ventures (GV). With $3.0 billion under management and investments in Uber and Nest, GV was described as one of the hottest venture funds in Silicon Valley under his leadership. Maris oversaw the growth of the team from 1 to 70+, across 7 offices, 2 continents, and 400 investments, including Nest, Uber, Flatiron Health, Impossible Foods, Editas, Iperian, Grail, Orbital Insights, Cloudera, Carbon 3D, Slack, Docusign, Adimab, The Climate Corporation, Silver Spring Networks, Kobalt Music Group and 23andme. Maris has particular interest in the life sciences and artificial intelligence. He is the creator of Google's Calico project, a multi-billon dollar company focused on the genetic basis of aging. He is the founder of early web hosting pioneer Burlee.com, now part of Web.com, and most recently the founder of Section 32, a California-based venture fund focused on frontier technology, and a practicing magician.
Contents
- Google ventures boss bill maris on the two most important things enterpreneurs must focus on
- Bill maris google ventures being born an entrepreneur
- Education and early career
- Section 32
- Google Ventures Founder President CEO
- Calico
- Google for Entrepreneurs
- Aurolab Aravind Eye Institute
- Burleecom Webcom
- Investor AB
- Middlebury College Duke University
- Recognition
- Personal life
- References
Bill maris google ventures being born an entrepreneur
Education and early career
Maris' background includes research at the Duke University Medical Center Department of Neurobiology. He has a degree in neuroscience from Middlebury College. Maris began his career as a biotechnology and healthcare portfolio manager for Swedish investment firm Investor AB, where he and Anne Wojiciki shared an office. In 1997, Maris founded one of the first Web hosting companies, Burlee.com, and built the company's original computing, network and technological infrastructure after teaching himself to code from books purchased at the local Barnes & Noble. Burlee was subsequently acquired by Interland, Inc. and renamed Web.com.
Section 32
Maris is the founder of Section 32, a California based venture fund. In 2017, Section 32 completed its first fund, raising more than $150 million.
Google Ventures Founder, President & CEO
Maris founded GV, formerly Google Ventures, in 2008-2009 as the venture capital investment arm of Google Inc. He was responsible for the fund's strategy and management, and oversaw $3.0 billion in investments in technology and the life sciences. Maris grew GV into the most successful corporate venture fund of all time, with $3.0 billion under management, more than 350 portfolio companies, and offices in San Francisco, Boston, New York, Seattle, Mountain View, CA, and London. Notable Google Ventures investments include Uber, Nest, Foundation Medicine, DocuSign, and Flatiron Health.
Maris was one of the first to cite the troubles with Theranos, the troubled Silicon Valley blood testing company.
In a 2015 interview, Maris stated that health care breakthroughs can significantly improve the quality and duration of human lifespan across the globe, and that he is looking to invest in promising biotechnology companies.
Maris was also the Vice President of Special Projects at Google, where he was heavily involved in Google X, Verily, and multiple other Google initiatives.
Maris left Google Ventures on August 12, 2016, declaring "mission accomplished."
Calico
Maris founded Calico, a multibillion-dollar company whose mission is to understand and influence the genetic basis of aging. Maris came up with the idea to treat aging itself as a genetic disease, rather than treating the diseases of aging symptomatically. Google itself funded the company after Maris pitched the Google board of directors. Maris then recruited and hired Art Levinson, former CEO of Genentech, as Calico's first CEO.
Google for Entrepreneurs
Maris was responsible for Google's global startup efforts, including Google for Entrepreneurs, Campus London, and Campus Tel Aviv.
Aurolab / Aravind Eye Institute
In the mid 2000s, Maris partnered with entrepreneur and MacArthur award winner David Green to transfer a novel hydrophobic acrylic lens to Aurolab to cure cataract blindness in the developing world, where it has been used in 30 million patients and counting.
Burlee.com / Web.com
Maris founded and was the CEO of early web hosting pioneer Burlee.com. The company was initially funded with credit cards and run from Maris' one bedroom apartment in Burlington, VT. Maris taught himself to code with books he bought at the local Barnes & Noble. Burlee.com grew to support tens of thousands of customers globally, and was merged with Interland in 2002. Maris remained with the company until 2003. Interland subsequently changed its name to Web.com.
Investor AB
Maris was a portfolio manager at Investor AB in 1997, where he and Anne Wojcicki shared an office. It was on a business trip to Investor's headquarters in Stockholm where Maris was inspired to found Burlee.com after seeing a rack of servers in a closet which housed the company's email and web site.
Middlebury College / Duke University
Maris graduated with a highest honors with a degree in neuroscience from Middlebury College, where he was also an Independent Scholar and a National Merit Scholar. Maris also spent time in the Department of Neurobiology at the Duke University Medical Center as he was planning to pursue a Ph.D / MD program. While there his research focused on cognitive, cellular and molecular neuroscience.
Recognition
Maris has been named as one of Silicon Valley's 40 under 40, Fast Company named him one of the most creative people in business, and Vanity Fair named him one to watch and to the New Establishment list.
Maris appears regularly on Bloomberg, CNBC, and in print and television news outlets around the world speaking on a variety of topics from technology to the life sciences and current events.
Personal life
In 2014, Maris married singer/songwriter Tristan Prettyman at Kruger National Park in South Africa. Their son Kylo Evergreen Maris was born on August 26, 2015, their one-year anniversary.