Former Joost CEO Mike Volpi Lands At Index Ventures

Authored by Jay Baage on July 6, 2009 - 10:55am.

London - Index Ventures today announced that Mike Volpi, until recently CEO of the online video platform Joost, has joined the firm as a partner. Volpi will be based in the London office as part of the venture team where he will lead early stage investments in the Internet, telecom/networking and media sectors and contribute to the firm’s later stage growth fund, according to a press release.

Index Ventures was part of a group that invested $45 million in Joost two years ago. Some bloggers are pointing out that the move is somewhat ironic, since Joost lost momentum in the online video space to competitors such as Hulu after Volpi took over and recently cut staff and shifted its business model and strategy drastically. Volpi will remain Chairman of Joost.

Volpi is interested in finding investments for Index in internet companies built around transactional business models rather than ad-supported ones, which he thinks need a lot more development to become significant, according to All Things D.

Before Volpi joined Joost, he spent 13 years career at Cisco, during which time he acquired more than 75 companies and served as Chief Strategy Officer responsible for corporate strategy, business development, strategic alliances, and advanced Internet projects. He was at one point seen as a likely candidate to replace John Chambers as CEO.

Related Links:
http://www.indexventures.com/news#news/index/news_id/219
AllThingsD

Published in DMW Daily, July 6, 2009

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Mike Volpi

Submitted by Roxana Marin (not verified) on July 6, 2009 - 10:55pm.

Mike Volpi is a really inteligent man, I admire him very much, and I think this is a good move for him.