John O'Farrell (venture capitalist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John O'Farrell
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
O'Farrell in 2011
|
|
| Born | |
| Education | University College Dublin (B.E.) Stanford University (MBA) |
| Employer | Andreessen Horowitz |
| Board member of | Slack, Pagerduty, UNICEF USA, Karam Foundation |
John O’Farrell is an Irish business expert who helps new companies grow. He works at a company called Andreessen Horowitz in Silicon Valley, a famous area in California known for technology. He joined them in June 2010. John has also helped guide many important organizations, like UNICEF USA, which helps children worldwide, and tech companies like PagerDuty and Slack.
Contents
John O'Farrell's Early Life and Schooling
John O'Farrell grew up in Stillorgan, a town in south Dublin, Ireland. He studied Electronic Engineering at University College Dublin. Later, he earned a special business degree called an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in the United States. He was a top student there, earning the Arjay Miller Scholar award.
John O'Farrell's First Jobs
From 1997 to 2001, John worked at a company called @Home Network. This company helped bring fast internet services, known as broadband, to homes. He helped launch these services in countries like Australia, Japan, and parts of Europe. Before that, John worked in different roles for several companies. These included US WEST, Telecom Ireland, and Digital Equipment Corp. He also worked for the European Commission.
Working at Opsware
From 2001 to 2007, John O'Farrell was a top executive at Opsware Inc.. This company was first known as Loudcloud. It was one of the first companies to offer "Software as a Service" (SaaS). This means software that you use over the internet without installing it. They also offered "cloud computing" services, which let people store and access data online.
John worked closely with the CEO, Ben Horowitz. In 2002, they changed the company's focus. Opsware then became a company that made software to manage computer servers. They even signed a big contract with EDS for $52 million.
Over the next five years, John helped Opsware grow a lot. They added new products and made deals with companies like NEC Corp. and NTT Communications. In 2006, John helped set up a major deal with Cisco Systems. This deal brought in millions of dollars for Cisco.
In 2007, John and Ben Horowitz helped sell Opsware to Hewlett-Packard for a huge amount: $1.65 billion.
Working at Silver Spring Networks
In 2008, John O'Farrell joined Silver Spring Networks. This company focused on "smart grid" technology. This technology helps manage electricity more efficiently. John helped the company raise $90 million from investors like Kleiner Perkins and Google. He also helped them expand their business into Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
Joining Andreessen Horowitz
In 2010, John O'Farrell became the first partner at Andreessen Horowitz who wasn't one of the founders. This company is a very important firm in Silicon Valley that invests in new technology companies. The Irish Times newspaper noted that he quietly became one of the most important Irish figures in the tech world. In 2013, he shifted from investing to an advisory role, offering advice to companies. In 2019, he joined the board of Slack, a popular communication software company.
