Biography

Bruce has been part of InterWest's IT team since 2006, focusing on investments in the business software and services sector with an emphasis on mobile, cloud computing and analytic applications. He is a former board member of Marketo (Nasdaq: MKTO), and currently serves on the boards of Appmesh, Aria Systems, Biba, C9, Damballa, Get Satisfaction, and Splice Machine, and is a board observer ofTotango.

Bruce created InterWest's summer internship program with Caltech to provide InterWest portfolio companies with early access to exceptional talent, and is helping to develop Bend, Oregon into a regional technology center.

Prior to joining InterWest, Bruce held senior executive roles in engineering, product management and product marketing with companies such as Apple, AT&T, Oracle and Siebel Systems. Bruce's last operational role was as a member of the founding executive team of Siebel Systems where he served as SVP, Marketing and SVP, Products. He is credited by Forbes and IDC with creating the most effective BB alliance program in the software industry. Bruce attended the United States Military Academy, West Point, and received a B.S. in business administration from CSU, Sacramento.

Bruce writes about cloud computing, venture investing and life in Silicon Valley on his blog Rolling Thunder.

Bruce Cleveland Content

In Search of the Mythical VP Sales & Marketing

Are you a startup looking for VC funding? If you have a VP of Sales & Marketing, that’s a big #Fail with some VCs.

RPM Accelerates the Front Office

This article covers the challenges of the Front Office. Revenue Performance Management solutions are beginning to enter the Front Office and make an impact.

Do Venture Capitalists Suck?

Most VCs have never held an operational role nor built and scaled a large or global company. Yet they judge the ability of VPs of their portfolio companies to do so.

Innovation — the Intersection of Fear of Status Quo, Opportunity and Talent

Innovation is tough for established companies because few fear the status quo, even when under duress. Imagine the lack of fear when things are going great.

Siebel v Salesforce — Lessons from the Death of a Tech Goliath

Some think Siebel Systems lost its dominance to Salesforce, but a former Siebel insider says differently. Sometimes when you play to win, you lose.

Why “Organizational Behavior” Was My Most Important Collegiate Course

At some point in your career, the ability to get things done will depend less on your performance and more on your team’s. This is true even at a venture firm.

The Missing SaaS Metric – Customer Retention Cost

Customer retention is important to all companies, but with SaaS and pay-as-you-go models, it’s critical. But what’s the cost to retain or save a customer?

The Rise of RevTech and EmpTech

A new class of software brings supply chain concepts to front-office work (revenue technology) and back-office work (employee technology).

VCs and Corporate Development

The business spin-in is one way well-established companies can lower the risk of investing in or buying startups to feed their innovation pipeline.

Enterprise SaaS: Venture Capital Investing

Bruce Cleveland, one of the most experienced and respected enterprise SaaS investors in the world, talks about startups and investing.

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Bruce Cleveland, InterWest

Biography