Microsoft Ad Exec Takes Venture-Capital Job
Former Microsoft ad executive and aQuantive CEO Brian McAndrews is joining Madrona Venture Group, a Seattle-based venture capital firm, as a managing director. — Microsoft — Brian McAndrews — Mr. McAndrews is a big name in the digital advertising world.
Context & Ripple Effects
McAndrews has been out of an operating seat since Microsoft absorbed his company: the software giant bought aQuantive in May 2007 to build out its ad business (the aQuantive acquisition), and by late 2008 Microsoft had installed former Time Inc. executive Domeniconi over U.S. ad sales (Domeniconi taking the U.S. ad-sales lead) rather than elevating the aQuantive leadership. His move to Madrona as managing director closes that arc on his terms — trading the operating suite for a seat allocating capital.
He is also the second high-profile Microsoft deal-side figure to head into the startup economy in recent memory: corporate-dealmaker Bruce Jaffe left in January 2008 to start his own firm (Jaffe going startup). For Madrona, a Seattle firm betting on the region, hiring the best-known name in digital advertising is a statement about where its deal flow is headed.
First-order effects
- Madrona adds a managing director with hands-on experience running a public ad-tech company through a multibillion-dollar exit — directly relevant diligence for any Seattle-area advertising or media startup it backs.
- McAndrews exits Microsoft's ad organization entirely, confirming that the post-aQuantive leadership path there runs through hires like Domeniconi rather than through the acquired team.
Second-order effects
- Ad-tech founders in the Pacific Northwest gain a credible operator-investor who has been on both sides of a major acquisition, sharpening Madrona's position against coastal funds competing for the same deals.
- Microsoft, still integrating the asset it bought in 2007, loses whatever institutional knowledge McAndrews retained — one more signal that acquired ad executives rarely stay long inside the acquirer.
Third-order effects
- The Jaffe-to-startup-firm move followed by McAndrews-to-VC suggests a durable pipeline in which executives from big acquirers recycle into capital allocation, shifting influence over the next generation of ad and media companies from corporate strategy teams to early-stage investors.
The trend: Senior executives from large technology acquirers are increasingly converting operating careers into venture-capital seats, with Seattle's Madrona recruiting proven operators to source local deals.