Ed Olkkola

Bio

Ed Olkkola is a Managing Director of Teakwood Capital. His career has spanned a wide range of executive-level positions in marketing, finance, information technology, strategy, product and corporate development, and professional investing. Previously, Ed was Senior Vice President, New Products and Business Development for A. H. Belo Corporation. He focused on strategic investments in media and technology companies and developing an enterprise-wide product innovation process. Prior to A. H. Belo, Ed was a General Partner at Austin Ventures where he established the hardware/systems investment practice, focusing on communications systems and semiconductor investments. He has had many notable exits, including Agere Systems, Sychip, Santera Systems, and Navini Networks. Before joining the firm, he was with Compaq Computer Corp, and served as Vice President and General Manager of the communications products division. Prior to his operating role, he was Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Technology Planning at Compaq and co-founded the Compaq Venture Fund. Before Compaq, Ed spent 9 years with Motorola Information Systems Group in a variety of engineering, marketing, strategy, and finance roles. He brought over a dozen new products to market during his Compaq and Motorola careers and acquired several companies totaling over $750 million. Ed has received numerous industry awards, including the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Venture Capital 1999, listed on the Forbes Midas Top 100 List of Influential Investors, and was named one of the Top 10 Most Influential Venture Capitalists by Venture Capital Journal in 2001. Ed received his undergraduate degrees from the University of Massachusetts, holds an MBA from Northeastern University and completed the Compaq executive leadership program at Harvard University.