Full Name
Mark Kvamme
Job Title
CoFounder & Partner
Company
Drive Capital
Speaker Bio
Mark D. Kvamme is a co-founder and Partner Emeritus at Drive Capital – a Midwest venture capital fund with $2.2 billion under management based in Columbus, Ohio.
Prior to founding Drive Capital in 2013, he was a Partner at Sequoia Capital in Menlo Park, California, where he led investments in companies such as Linkedin, MarkLogic, Cast Iron, and Funnyordie.com. Prior to joining Sequoia Capital in 1999, Mark was Chairman and CEO of CKS Group, a NASDAQ listed advertising agency that pioneered new advertising strategies by integrating marketing with technology. CKS helped launch Yahoo, Excite, eBay, Amazon as well as helped companies like GM, MCI, Apple, McDonalds, and many others. Earlier in his career Mark was a Director of International Marketing for Wyse Technology, the President and CEO of International Solutions, and was a founding member of Apple France.
In January of 2011, Mark was appointed Director of the Ohio Department of Development by Governor John R. Kasich to help implement a policy agenda to create jobs and boost the economy by reviving the state’s ailing economic development efforts. In March, Governor Kasich appointed him Director of Job Creation, where he served until June, working to accelerate Ohio‘s economic growth and recovery by creating a jobs-friendly business climate. Mark also was one of the architects of JobsOhio, a new private, nonprofit corporation that has taken over the State’s economic development activities. He served as the President and CIO until November, 2012.
Mark has a B.A. in French Literature and Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Prior to founding Drive Capital in 2013, he was a Partner at Sequoia Capital in Menlo Park, California, where he led investments in companies such as Linkedin, MarkLogic, Cast Iron, and Funnyordie.com. Prior to joining Sequoia Capital in 1999, Mark was Chairman and CEO of CKS Group, a NASDAQ listed advertising agency that pioneered new advertising strategies by integrating marketing with technology. CKS helped launch Yahoo, Excite, eBay, Amazon as well as helped companies like GM, MCI, Apple, McDonalds, and many others. Earlier in his career Mark was a Director of International Marketing for Wyse Technology, the President and CEO of International Solutions, and was a founding member of Apple France.
In January of 2011, Mark was appointed Director of the Ohio Department of Development by Governor John R. Kasich to help implement a policy agenda to create jobs and boost the economy by reviving the state’s ailing economic development efforts. In March, Governor Kasich appointed him Director of Job Creation, where he served until June, working to accelerate Ohio‘s economic growth and recovery by creating a jobs-friendly business climate. Mark also was one of the architects of JobsOhio, a new private, nonprofit corporation that has taken over the State’s economic development activities. He served as the President and CIO until November, 2012.
Mark has a B.A. in French Literature and Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Speaking At
