James A. Kohlberg
For over fifteen years, Jim Kohlberg has been investing in early-stage media, entertainment, internet, specialty consumer products and healthcare companies. At Kohlberg Ventures, Mr. Kohlberg leads the investment committee and is a Board member of Akademos. In addition to his role with Kohlberg Ventures, Mr. Kohlberg is chairman of Kohlberg & Company, a leading middle-market private equity firm, which he co-founded in 1987. Kohlberg & Company has completed 75 platform investments and acquisitions of undervalued and/or underperforming companies, with total transaction value in excess of $15 billion.
John S. Eastburn, Jr.
Before co-founding Kohlberg Ventures, John Eastburn was a partner in the private equity firm Kohlberg & Company. Before joining Kohlberg & Company in 1997, Mr. Eastburn was an executive in entertainment, manufacturing and retailing companies. In entertainment, Mr. Eastburn was an executive at Crystal Dynamics, a video game publisher; Vestron, a feature film and video producer; Columbia Pictures, a feature film producer and CBS, a broadcaster and television network. Mr. Eastburn’s manufacturing experience includes Scovill Fasteners, a manufacturer of buttons, snaps and zippers, where he was president and chief executive officer.
Greg Shove
Greg Shove is a digital media partner and advisor to the firm. He is the founder of Firstup, one of our portfolio companies. Prior to launching Firstup, Greg was an active private and public company investor. From 1996 to 2000, Greg was an executive at America Online, overseeing more than $600 million in annual e-commerce and media revenue. Prior to that, he co-founded 2Market, an online shopping start-up that was acquired by AOL. In the past, he has worked at Apple Computer, Sun Microsystems and Digital Equipment. He is a Sloan Fellow from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.
Bill Youstra
Bill Youstra focuses on mobile commerce and media, both as a Venture Partner for Kohlberg Ventures and as an independent advisor to early-stage companies.
Past operating & consulting roles include Firstup, thefind.com, there.com, Pixo and AOL, where he oversaw network-level programming & promotions, subscriber relations, email, search, software UX and other areas with over 5bn monthly impressions and $750m annual contribution.
Bill holds an MBA from Stanford University, where he contributed to the best-selling book “Built to Last” by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras. He also holds an MA in Education from Stanford and B.A. Film, B.S. Computer Science and B.A. Marketing from the University of Maryland. He lives with his wife and four boys in Portola Valley, CA.
