CONTRIBUTED BY
Megan Muir
@megan_muir
Q&A: Why this former Microsoft exec wanted to become a venture capitalist Ted Kummert announced on February 5th that he would be leaving his longtime position as a Microsoft executive to take a new role at venture capital firm, Madrona Venture Group. In this Q&A with John Cook of Geekwire, he answers questions about his experience and what caused him to take the leap into VC. “I…look forward to spending time, more broadly, across the Madrona portfolio of companies. I don’t tend to single out. I see so much opportunity, whether we are talking about consumer or we are talking about B2B — I think there is significant opportunity across all of that space,” Kummert said.
He added that his interest is especially drawn towards innovation in the cloud, explaining that “The cloud is really one of those things that is going to change things for the enterprise.” As he moves on from a long career at Microsoft, most recently as head of the company’s Data Platform group, Kummert is looking forward to becoming part of Seattle’s flourishing startup ecosystem. “It is just a fantastic thing to be a part of.”