Glen Meakem

Bio

The co-founder of Meakem Becker Venture Capital, Glen Meakem, has earned a national reputation as a new economy leader and innovator. His success as an entrepreneur has been accompanied by a strict code of personal and professional ethics, and an ability to build strong teams of likeminded individuals. Prior to the creation of Meakem Becker, Glen led Meakem Venture Partners. As Managing Director, he made early stage venture investments into five companies: Akustica, BeatBox Technologies (sold to Mercury Interactive), College Prowler, SEEC, and 3Form (sold to Hunter Douglas). Glen currently sits on the board of Akustica, and is Chairman of the Board of both SEEC and College Prowler. Glen’s entry into the venture capital industry was preceded by a widely chronicled role as co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FreeMarkets, Inc., which was the leading provider of internet deployed software and services for automating the sourcing processes of Global 1000 companies. Glen and his team took FreeMarkets public in late 1999, and after growing the company significantly through the post bubble technology recession, sold the company to Ariba, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARBA) in 2004 for approximately $500 million. Immediately prior to founding FreeMarkets, Glen was a manager in General Electric’s Corporate Business Development Group. In the early 1990s, he was an associate with McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm to Global 1000 companies. His work with McKinsey focused on supply management, marketing, operations and overall strategy. In the late 1980s, Glen began his career in business holding a range of consumer marketing and product management positions for Kraft-General Foods. After college, Glen served as a combat engineer officer in the United States Army Reserves. In 1990-91, he volunteered and returned to active duty serving as a platoon leader in the First Gulf War. Glen graduated A.B. cum laude from Harvard University in 1986, and later earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1992 after returning from the First Gulf War. His pioneering work on e-commerce methods and inventions has resulted in eight U.S. patents. Among his numerous awards and honors is an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Robert Morris University, the World Economic Forum’s Global Technology Pioneer designation and the Anti-Defamation League’s National American Heritage Award.