GCV Powerlist 2016: Jim Lussier, Dell

Jim Lussier has led US-based computer maker Dell’s corporate venturing unit for nearly five years and has an ambitious goal for the $300m fund: “To create an enduring world-class corporate venture program.”

In 2013, Dell was taken private by founder Michael Dell in partnership with buyout firm Silver Lake for $24.9bn, and this month the parent was renamed Dell Technologies in preparation for the final close of the merger of Dell with EMC.

Lussier said: “Things are going well here at Dell Ventures. We currently have 15 active portfolio companies with many of them collaborating with our business units on go-to-market and product activities. In addition to our traditional areas, such as storage, data centre and cloud infrastructure, security and analytics, we are expanding our scope to look at all the innovation happening on the edge, including areas such as the internet of things, augmented and virtual reality, and collaboration, and are dipping our toe into China.”

Lussier joined the unit from Norwest Venture Partners, where he worked for more than 11 years as a general partner at the Wells Fargo-backed VC firm.

From 1998 to 2000, Lussier was a vice-president and general manager at Beyond.com, a publicly-traded e-commerce company. Between 1992 and 1998 he managed the high-tech strategy practice at consulting firm Accenture as an associate partner, while he was also a long-term employee of consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. He has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a degree from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Dell Ventures’ portfolio includes dozens of companies in the cloud, data centre, big data, storage, mobile and security sectors but publicises less than a dozen, such as Mirantis, Nutanixm Exablox and Cylance.

Lussier said in an interview for the 2013 Powerlist: “We invest in early to growth-stage companies in our targeted areas and function as strategic investors and board advisers. We can invest from $2m to $15m into a round, with the normal investment averaging $3m to $5m. We prefer to co-invest with other venture capital firms, and can lead investment rounds when appropriate. As a strategic investor, Dell provides deep technical expertise and business counsel as well as access to Dell’s brand scale, channel, original equipment manufacturing and go-to-market relationships.”