Mike Smerklo

Mike has been active in the technology industry for 20 years. He is the Co-Founder of leading Austin-based venture capital firm Next Coast Ventures. Prior to Next Coast, Mike bought a small technology services company, ServiceSource (SREV), and ran it for 12 years, taking it from a startup to a public company with over 3,000 employees around the world as its Chairman and CEO. Previously, he was one of the first employees at pioneer cloud services company LoudCloud, formerly Opsware, that also went public. Mike was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award Finalist in Northern California in 2010. A member of YPO, Mike received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University and a BS in Business at Miami University. He serves on the board of many technology companies, including several based in Austin. He enjoys sharing his experience as an entrepreneur, father and CEO on his blog MikeSmerklo.com.

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