Thanks to a rapidly changing SDN environment; and at the risk of reporting more like People Magazine, instead of the independent, credible source of software-defined networking (SDN) and network virtualization that we are — we continue our reporting of people movements in the SDN space. I wanted to share a post this morning from VentureWire that Jason Matlof from Battery Ventures has ‘gone back’ to networking.
This is an interesting move for the SDN Community – I worked with Jason at Netscreen / Juniper Networks after Netscreen acquired his last startup, Neoteris (the market leading SSL VPN product). Jason is a talented product and marketing executive with strong background in security and switching who’s due for a CEO role. His Linkedin profile shows that while at Battery he invested in Cumulus Networks. Additionally, his former Neoteris team has started a new SDN security company, NetCitadel which is funded by Kittu Kolluri at NEA, the former CEO of Neoteris. Ironically, Kittu via NEA* has also funded Cumulus competitor Pluribus Networks
You can learn more about all of these companies (plus ~100 more) in the SDNCentral Company Directory (Note: if you represent an SDN Company – you can register on SDN Central to add / control the content shared your company’s SDNCentral page).
If I was a betting man, my money would be that we’ll see Jason emerging at either NetCitadel or Cumulus. Though, this is pure speculation and maybe totally off – either way — we’ll know shortly; and regardless of where he lands, if it’s at an SDN start-up, they’ll have landed a very talented executive.
Related notes: See my posts on should you join an SDN startup, the potential exit environment for SDN start-ups, and what suitability of SDN for venture investing.
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