Todd Papaioannou, the architect of Yahoo’s cloud computing group, departed the Internet giant last month to become an entrepreneur-in-residence at Battery Ventures.
The gig is slightly unconventional for an EIR role, Papaioannou says.
“They aren’t just asking me to come in and flesh out an idea,” he says. “Part of the role is to work with the investment team, look at the landscape, build a picture and identify where there are opportunities for investment.”
Papaioannou will also work with Battery’s portfolio companies to help improve their technology and infrastructure. In addition, he’ll develop ideas for new companies and investments. That could mean he launches a new company himself, or works with an entrepreneur, he says.
The role fits well with Papaioannou’s history as a strategic operator. He spent five years at publicly traded data warehousing company Teradata Corp., where he led the Teradata client software portfolio, launched the enterprise analytics cloud computing program and had a hand in the company’s M&A strategy.
Papaioannou joined Yahoo in May 2010 and led strategic directions for the cloud computing and Hadoop teams, as well as helped define and lead the company’s overall IT strategy.
The draw of Battery Ventures was the opportunity to get back into the competitive trenches.
I wanted to get back to building software and shipping software. There are customers. There is revenue and a competitive landscape. That’s what excites me.
Todd Papaioannou EIRBattery Ventures
“I had a great time at Yahoo, but ultimately it was internal IT,” Papaioannou says. “I wanted to get back to building software and shipping software. There are customers. There is revenue and a competitive landscape. That’s what excites me.”
Papaioannou started at Battery on Aug. 1, and is working out of the firm’s Menlo Park, Calif.-based office. Not surprisingly, he’s keen on opportunities in cloud computing and big data.
“Of course I am biased, but I think cloud and big data are going to be the two mega-trends of this decade,” he says. “Cloud is becoming a more mature industry. But there are a lot of opportunities in delivery of services, securing services and marrying new applications on top of that.”
So far, Papaioannou has been making the rounds and getting to know the Battery Ventures portfolio. Among Battery’s current investments, he points to 3-year-old Calxeda as a compelling company. Calxeda is building technology allow data center managers to increase the density of their computer resources while reducing the need for power, space and cooling.
“They’re doing some tremendous stuff in bringing on CPU-based service into the data center,” he says. “Going forward, cost and power usage are going to be at the forefront.”
Clancy Nolan is a Toronto-based contributor. She can be reached at clancynolan@gmail.com.
