The rest of the 50 (in alphabetical order): Sherry House, corporate development director, Waymo
Sherry House has been corporate development director at Waymo, the autonomous driving software subsidiary of internet technology conglomerate Alphabet, since February 2019, having joined the unit as a director of business finance and corporate development two years before.
House oversees corporate venture capital (CVC) investments, acquisitions, divestitures and other monetisation efforts for the firm. She also has executive oversight over Waymo’s newly formed Lidar Sales business, which sells its vehicle-grade Lidar across a range of industries.
She said: “It is incredibly exciting to work in a mission-driven company where corporate development and CVC initiatives can make such an important and lasting impact on the future of mobility.”
Prior to Waymo, House had been vice-president of corporate development and strategic planning for car parts maker Visteon for a year from 2016, where she managed CVC investments and led the strategic planning process for the company.
Before that, she was a managing director of corporate finance for professional services firm Deloitte from 2011 to 2016, responsible for the firm’s Silicon Valley office for telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) investment banking, and served as founder and leader of Deloitte’s CVC strategy practice.
House became involved in CVC when she joined automotive manufacturer General Motors (GM) in 1999 as manager of corporate development and strategy, before ascending to TMT VC lead a year later where she helped establish GM’s first CVC initiative, partnering Gabriel Venture Partners.
She added: “Having just completed my MBA [at University of Michigan’s Stephen M Ross School of Business], I was asked by [GM’s then] chief strategy officer Vince Barabba to study the CVC field and provide a recommendation. Through that project, I had the opportunity to benchmark many of the CVC industry bellwethers including Intel Capital, GSK’s unit, under the direction of Dr Brenda Gavin, and Chevron. I also met with leading authorities at the time including Harvard professor Josh Lerner.
“This experience exposed me to a whole new field and set of tools for executing growth and innovation strategies. I was also drawn to the warmth and open knowledge sharing that existed within the CVC industry then and still exists in a remarkable way today.”
