I’m a general partner at Next World Capital, a venture capital firm in San Francisco.

I’m originally from a one-horse town in upstate New York.  Everyone in my family was a local business entrepreneur, except for my father who was in the newspaper business.  I always loved tinkering around and building things, and earned the name “Technical Tom” in elementary school.

Later I went to MIT where I studied Computer Science.  I loved the idea of teaching computers how to think for themselves, as well as using computers to help people express themselves creatively and to connect with others.  My interest in blending those two elements led me to stay for a master’s in Artificial Intelligence, followed by a move to Silicon Valley to join Silicon Graphics, where I found some of the smartest engineers at the time.

I’ve since been fortunate to learn a lot about starting and running great companies from my time at Autodesk, Apple, Google, Wildfire, and Andreessen Horowitz, as well as founding Renown Labs.  Two years at Harvard Business School also provided me with more perspective on how to building lasting enterprises.

What I love most is empowering entrepreneurs and helping them solve big problems in the world.