Back in May, Walt Doyle, the CEO OF WHERE – which sold to PayPal in 2011 for $135 million – left his role as General Manager of the PayPal Media Network.
At the time, an email to Doyle spurred the following auto-response:
After a great run - it's time to take the summer off. Today is my last day at the company - if you need to contact me please use my personal email ... David Chang runs the PayPal Boston office.
Well, summer has come and gone. And after months of whispers about the prominent Boston executive potentially moving to the venture capital world, rumors were finally confirmed Friday: Doyle has joined Highland Capital Partners.
"I have been working with numerous early stage technology companies here in Boston, as well as in New York and the West Coast, for a number of years now, with no purpose other than trying to help great entrepreneurs get up and running and through the critical Series A milestone," Doyle told BostInno in a statement. "When I thought about my next move, venture capital was simply a logical decision to turn an activity that I am passionate about into more of a career."
Doyle is already an active area angel, and has invested in the likes of Evertrue, Celtra and Leaf; however, the newly appointed partner still stands to gain even deeper insights into VC activity in his new role:
I have a lot to learn about being in the business of venture beyond playing at the edges as an entrepreneur, and I can learn from the deep bench of experience inside Highland. The Highland team has been in the business for a long time. They have a great brand, a great team and, most importantly for me, they invest in consumer from the early stages right up through to growth capital.
Doyle joins the Highland's Cambridge ranks alongside Sean Dalton, Jeremiah Daly, Bob Davis, Dan Nova, Craig Driscoll, Bob Higgins, Andy Hunt and Paul Maeder.
Noted Doyle, "[Highland] is a bi-costal firm with a newly minted $400 million fund. It’s a great time for them, and I’m delighted to be joining the team."
With a prominent innovator named as partner and a big fund in the bank, Highland Capital Partners looks to be readying itself for a strong start in the new year.
