John W. Thompson

Venture Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners

John W. Thompson is a venture partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Prior to joining Lightspeed, they were an executive advisor at Riverwood Capital Management and the CEO of Virtual Instruments. John also served as chairman of the board at Symantec and as general manager of IBM Americas.

John W. Thompson has over forty years of experience in the technology industry. John began their career at IBM in 1971, where they rose through the ranks to become general manager of IBM Americas in 1999. In 1999, they joined Symantec as chairman of the board, and served in that role for twelve years. During their time at Symantec, the company became a leader in internet security.

In 2010, John W. Thompson became the CEO of Virtual Instruments. John successfully led the company through a period of growth and profitability, before selling it to Cisco in 2016.

In 2017, John W. Thompson joined Riverwood Capital Management as an executive advisor. John helped the firm develop its strategic direction and implement plans to drive its growth. John left Riverwood in 2018 to join Lightspeed Venture Partners as a venture partner.

John W. Thompson received their Masters in Management Science from the MIT Sloan School of Management and their Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

Their manager is Ravi Mhatre, Founder & Managing Director. They work with Amanda Frink - Head of People, Adrian Nicholas Radu - Partner, and Arif Janmohamed - Partner.

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  • Venture Partner

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