David Cowan

Since joining Bessemer Venture Partners in 1992, David has invested in more than 20 startups that have since gone public. The first Forbes Midas List ranked David among the world's top 10 venture investors.

David has invested in network technology (Ciena, P-Com), internet services (PSI-Net, Keynote, Flycast, Netli), and consumer internet (Hotjobs, Blue Nile). In 1995 he cofounded Verisign as a Bessemer-funded spinout of RSA and served as VeriSign's initial Chairman; his other data security investments have included Counterpane (acq. by BT), Cyota (acquired by RSA), ON (acquired by Symantec), Postini (acquired by Google), Qualys, Tripwire, Tumbleweed, Valicert and Worldtalk (both of which Tumbleweed acquired after they went public). David's current portoflio includes Billshrink, Delivery Agent, GetInsured, Lifelock, LinkedIn,  MashLogic,  Nominum,  Playdom,  Reputation Defender, Smule, and Zoosk.

David received both his A.B. in math and computer science and his M.B.A. degrees from Harvard University. Follow David on Twitter, read his blog WhoHasTimeForThis?", his Startup Stuff for Entrepreneurs, or his posts on Bessemer Investments.

  
An on-line provider of gear and guidance for new parents, merged with eToys, another BVP company.
Billshrink provides personalized recommendations to help consumers save money on everyday services.
BVP invested in Blue Nile, a pioneering online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry, in 1999. It went public in 2004 (NASDAQ:NILE).
In September 1995, BVP's David Cowan led the only venture round for CellAccess, an early developer of ATM edge switches, and joined the board as Chairman. Two months later, Fore Systems (NASDAQ:FORE) acquired the company.
Ciena Corporation pioneered the intelligent optical networking equipment market. BVP's David Cowan invested in Ciena's B round in December 1994. The company went public in 1997 (NASDAQ:CIEN). In 1999, Ciena acquired Omnia Communications, another BVP portfolio company. In 2003, it purchased yet another BVP company, WaveSmith Networks.
Counterpane Systems is a data security monitoring service that monitors the firewalls and intrusion detection products protecting corporate networks. David Cowan invested in its early rounds and served on the board until the company's acquisition by BT (NYSE: BT) in 2006.
Crowdflower helps businesses outsource repetitive tasks to the cloud, providing access to the labor source and back-end quality control.
Cyota is the leading player in the anti-fraud space, specializing in financial institutions. It specializes in fraud related to the Internet, such as online banking fraud, eCommerce fraud and phishing. In December 2005, Cyota was acquired by RSA Security (NASDAQ:RSAS).
BVP's David Cowan led the first venture round of Data Labs, an early developer of ATM edge switches, in 1996.  In December 1997, it was acquired by Yuri Systems (NASDAQ: YURI), a maker of LAN/WAN equipment.
Delivery Agent is developing the market for shopping-enabled entertainment by redefining how products SeenOn™ or related to entertainment content are catalogued, sold and measured online.
eEye offers an integrated suite of vulnerability management software that focuses on eliminating vulnerabilities, rather than merely thwarting attacks.
The first major toy retailer on the Internet, eToys carried over 275 brands, as well as unique and obscure toys made by specialty manufacturers. David Cowan led BVP's 1998 investment in the company. EToys went public in 1999 (NASDAQ:ETYS), but later collapsed in the dotcom downturn.
Finjan develops enterprise security software that prevents attack from malicious Net-enabled code including Trojan executables, Java, ActiveX, JavaScript and Visual Basic Script. It was acquired by M86 Security in 2009.
Flock is creating the world's best internet browser.
Founded in 1996, Flycast provided total solutions for Web advertising campaign management. In 1997, during a backlash period against online advertising, BVP's David Cowan led Flycast's Series A round. The company went public (NASDAQ:FCST) in early 1999 and was acquired by CMGI (NASDAQ:CMGI) the following year.
Getinsured.com provides a comparison platform to help customers find affordable health insurance.
Goodmail authenticates and delivers trusted email.
BVP's David Cowan participated in the first institutional round of Hotjobs, the first on-line job search and human resources management service. It went public in 1999 (NASDAQ:HOTJ) and was acquired by Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) in 2002.
In 1997 BVP's David Cowan led the Series A round in Keynote, a provider of Internet performance data and diagnostic services. The company went public in 1999 (NASDAQ:KEYN).
Lifelock is the nation's first ID-theft protection company.
LinkedIn is an Internet platform company focused on connecting the world's professionals.
MashLogic has developed a Firefox extension that allows users to create a customized web browsing experience.
MotherNature.com, "your healthy living headquarters", was founded by Michael Barach, a partner of BVP.
Netli was the first company to offer a service that reliably and transparently enabled global sub-second response time to Web-enabled applications, providing LAN-like performance over WANs. It was acquired by Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) in 2007.
Netsys Technologies developed pioneering network infrastructure management and performance analysis software that could simulate network design in order to optimize capacity and performance. In 1995 BVP's David Cowan and Felda Hardymon led the company's Series A round; Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) acquired it the following year.
Nominum is a pioneering provider of IP address infrastructure software for enterprises that require reliable and secure DNS, DHCP and IP address management for their mission critical networks. Nominum is driving the future of IP addressing.
ON Technology was the leading provider of LAN applications and utilities for Novell networks. In 1994, BVP's David Cowan led a round to fund ON's acquisition of DaVinci Systems. Two years later, the company went public (NASDAQ:ONTC). ON was acquired in 2002 by Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC) and the company's CEO, Chris Risley, is now a BVP operating partner.
OpenCandy provides a recommendation network for applications, enabling developers to increase distribution and monetization while delivering the best applications to the right users.
Founded in 1991, P-Com’s microwave transmission units provided carriers with an alternative to laying cable. BVP’s David Cowan led the B round in 1993. P-Com went public in 1995 (NASDAQ:PCMS).
Perimeter provides comprehensive, on-demand messaging and security services to thousands of businesses.
Playdom is a leading social gaming provider.
Postini provides email security and management for the enterprise. BVP's David Cowan invested in the company's later rounds and served on the board. In July 2007, Postini was acquired by Google (NASDAQ:GOOG).
PSINet was the first venture-backed Internet Service Provider in the world. BVP's David Cowan and Felda Hardymon invested in its early rounds starting in 1993. PSINet went public in May 1995 (NASDAQ:PSIX).
Qualys helps organizations secure their networks and perform automated audits to maintain compliance.
Register.com provides domain name registration and related Internet services. BVP's David Cowan invested in the company in 1999; it went public (NASDAQ: RCOM) the following year.
ReputationDefender is the world's first comprehensive online reputation management and privacy company.
Resonext Communications develops high frequency communications chips on CMOS technology.
Soluto has developed a revolutionary approach to improving PC performance. Its application dives deep into the Windows core to identify the precise cause of poor performance and suggest the solution.
Sonic Mule (Smule) creates applications for the iPhone.
Telocity was an early provider of residential broadband internet service provider. BVP's David Cowan co-led the first venture round in 1998. Telocity went public (NASDAQ: TLCT) on March 31, 2001 (the last IPO of the dotcom era). Hughes' Electronics (NYSE:GMH) acquired the company later that year.
TeraBeam provides businesses with fibreless optical connectivity to the Internet or corporate Intranets. It was acquired by YDI (OTCBB:YDIW) in 2004.
Trigo created enterprise software solutions for Product Information Management. BVP's David Cowan participated in all of Trigo's institutional rounds from its founding in 1999 by a team that included Byron Deeter, who has since become a BVP partner. The company was acquired in 2004 by IBM (NYSE:IBM).
Tripwire is a software development company specializing in system security and policy compliance applications.
Tumbleweed's Integrated Messaging System extended e-mail and web applications by creating a secure, traceable and personalized online communication environment. BVP's David Cowan participated in the company's 1997 recapitalization. It went public in 1999 (NASDAQ:TMWD), and has since acquired two other public BVP portfolio companies, Worldtalk (NASDAQ:WTLK) and Valicert (NASDAQ:VLCT).
Valicert provides security products for the Internet. After going public in 2000 (NASDAQ:VLCT), it was purchased by Tumbleweed (NASDAQ:TMWD) three years later.
VeriSign is the leading provider of trusted infrastructure services to website owners, enterprises, service providers and individuals. BVP's David Cowan co-founded VeriSign in January 1995 as a spin-out from RSA, and served as its initial Chairman and CFO. The company went public in 1998 (NASDAQ:VRSN).
A leading provider of business-to-business Internet platforms for service communities, ViryaNet's software helps automate workforce management. The company went public in 2000 (NASDAQ:VRYA).
In 1997 BVP led the first venture round of Webspective, a pioneer in load balancing software for networks. Inktomi (NASDAQ:INKT) acquired the company in 1999.
WorkMetro is one of the nation’s premier locally-focused online recruiting solutions. In February 2008, it was acquired by Jobing.com.
BVP's David Cowan led several rounds in Worldtalk, starting in 1993. Worldtalk initially sold an email and directory switch. After going public in 1996 (NASDAQ:WTLK), Worldtalk focused on email security. In January 2000, the company was acquired by another BVP company, Tumbleweed (NASDAQ:TMWD).
Zoosk is a safe and fun online dating site for millions of singles to interact and search for their matches. The fastest growing social dating network, Zoosk seamlessly integrates with the most popular social networking sites.