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Margit Wennmachers

Margit Wennmachers
Margit Wennmachers of Andreessen Horowitz
EducationUniversity of Lippstadt, Germany
Occupation(s)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.[1]

Biography

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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

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Wennmachers began her career in the European office of a U.S.-based startup.[6][better source needed] 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.[2] Under her’ leadership, OutCast grew from two employees to a multimillion-dollar business.[1]

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][better source needed]

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][better source needed] 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

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 ^ "Outdated Values: Germany in the Age of Disruption".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