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Michael Brown

Partner at Shield Capital; Former Director

Palo Alto, California

Overview 

Michael Brown is a Partner at Shield Capital, previously serving as the Director of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) at the U.S. Department of Defense. He also holds an advisory role at the Center for a New American Security and the U.S. Navy Science & Tech Board. His career highlights include leading DIU's innovative initiatives and contributing to national security through strategic partnerships and investments in technology companies. Brown's career has seen him hold key positions in prominent organizations such as serving as the CEO of Symantec and as a Presidential Innovation Fellow at the White House. His current role as a Partner at Shield Capital showcases his expertise in investing in technology sectors like AutoTech, Space, Cybersecurity, AI, and Security, primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Work Experience 

  • Board Member

    2022 - Current

Strider is a strategic intelligence firm that utilizes artificial intelligence to convert publicly available data into actionable insights.

Raised $112,000,000.00 from DataTribe, Valor Equity Partners, AXA Venture Partners, Cyfr Capital and Pelion Venture Partners.

  • Board of Advisors

    2022

CNAS is an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit organization that develops pragmatic and principled national security and defense policies.

  • Board Member and Investor

    2017

    Comprehensive medical device automation and management powered by AI

Asimily's IoMT risk remediation platform holistically secures the mission-critical healthcare devices that deliver safe and reliable care.

Raised $19,970,000.00 from Ridge Ventures, MemorialCare Innovation Fund, Engineering Capital, New Leaf Venture Partners, Ridge Ventures, Inventus Capital Partners and Eileses Capital.

  • Partner

    2022 - 2024

Shield Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in founders building frontier technologies.

  • Director

    2018 - 2022

    Accelerating adoption of advanced commercial technology to the military

DIUx is designed to create a hub for increased communication with the innovation ecosystem.

  • Board of Trustees

    2013 - 2021

    The Berklee College of Music Board of Trustees are the primary fiduciaries of the college and are familiar with Berklee’s mission, objectives, policies, and programs. Trustees have a strong interest in the future of the college and are ambassadors of the college.

  • Presidential Innovation Fellow

    2016 - 2018

    Working with Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) at the Defense Department

  • CEO

    2014 - 2016

    As President and CEO of Symantec, the world’s leading cybersecurity firm, we refocused our business on security (selling the Veritas software business), articulated a new company strategy to leverage our strengths in security, recruited a new executive team, continued to change our business model towards security-as-a-service and improved profitability.

  • Board Member

    2003 - 2016

    I joined Symantec's Board of Directors following the company's merger with Veritas Software in July 2005.

Email Filtering Company

Raised $35,000,000.00 from TCV, Crosslink Capital, NortonLifeLock, Critical Path, Accel, Opportunity Capital Partners, Esther Dyson, Bill Joy and Thomas Weisel Partners.

  • Board Member

    2011 - 2014

    In 2011, I invested in and joined the board of the Echo Nest, a music intelligence platform with the world’s largest repository of data about music powering some of the world’s most widely used music services: Spotify, Sirius XM, Clear Channel and Vevo. In March 2014, Spotify purchased Echo Nest.

Articles About Michael

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