Profile: Henry Nash, Executive in Residence at Ariadne Capital
By Lisa Weissinger, Commissioning Editor
 
Henry Nash has more than 20 years of senior management in VC-backed. He joins the Ariadne Capital Advisory Board from Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was Director of IT Strategy. Prior to this he was the co-founder of OnLive! Technologies in Cupertino, CA in 1994, where he served initially as Chief Architect, and later as Director of European Sales.

How did you get involved in technology?
It is probably genetic, since my Father worked for IBM for most of his life, creating among other things PL/1. I had a traditional background experience working for Logica and Computer Vision in software development, although I felt that doing technology start-ups would be much more rewarding than working in larger corporations. I think that you need to decide what it is you want to do and then do it well. I always try to ‘make a difference’ which is something that has carried over from my professional into my personal life.

What was your lucky break?
My break was meeting a like-minded individual (Rod MacGregor) with a complimentary skill set at Computer Vision. We realised that we could fulfil our vision for creating new companies.

When did you found your first company?
Rod and I co-founded my first company Insignia Solutions when I was 26 years old, which went onto IPO and win the Queens Award for technology and exports. I then left Insignia to co-found a company building distributed networks, International Business Software, which was later acquired by Novell. My next project was Onlive Technologies, which I also co-founded, developing virtual reality communications systems for the Internet. This took me to California, where I spent six years. I also worked in Paris building a sales and distribution network before the company merged with Electric Communities.

What did you learn from working in California?
California was an interesting and invigorating experience, but not something you want to experience for a long period of time! In the US, the speed of business is much faster, which has its plus and minus points. I think that here in Europe we receive the upside of American entrepreneurship, although there are still opportunities for enabling faster business.

When did you join CSFB?
In my career I have always had a combined focus of technology and business, I think it is vital for an entrepreneur to have a good grasp of both. After leaving Onlive Technologies, I thought I would try out life ‘on the other side’, and joined CSFB advising on their IT strategy. This was a very different experience, although surprisingly not as different as you might imagine – you always have very similar constraints no matter what size of operation.

What are you doing now?
I left CSFB to become more involved with growing new companies. I now find myself working with a number of companies in various roles – board member, chairman, adviser – in strategy and fundraising. I am also involved with developing concepts for start-ups, and of course I am working with Ariadne Capital.

How did you get involved with Ariadne Capital?
I was put in contact with Ariadne Capital through a friend and ex-colleague of mine, Carter Alexander, who is also a friend of Julie's. I immediately recognised that there was an excellent fit with my skill set, my roles in various companies, and with the Ariadne Capital Executive-in- Residence (EIR) programme. So I joined mid-2001.

How does the relationship work?
For both Ariadne Capital and their clients, I can provide over 20 years of direct experience in many different areas of the business, which is rare in Europe. For me, it is a great opportunity to be involved in active deal flow, giving me visibility in up-and-coming companies and technologies.

What’s your motivation?
I am motivated to make something a success. My motto has always been, “If it’s easy, then somebody else would have done it”. You shouldn’t be put off if something looks hard. Many companies fail because they fail to focus on what is important and they make bad decisions – by not making the tough decisions. I want to beat the competition by making those tough decisions.

What would be your alternative career?
Probably writing comedy sketches, which is something I actively did whilst at University. I still try and find something humorous in what I do each day – even if its just looking in the mirror!

What has been your greatest personal achievement?
Maintaining a loving, stable relationship with my wife for over 20 years.

How do you see the future of technology?
This is one of the most exciting times to be involved in technology. In the 21st Century alone we will see the equivalent of 20,000 years worth of innovation in today’s terms.

I think that the developments in web services will make the commercial Internet a reality – a huge task which will represent a significant focus of many companies over the next five years. However, combined with Intel’s goal of radio circuitry in every chip within five years, this will transform what we think of networks. Add to this the emergence of embedded non-human intelligence and we are talking about a fundamentally different infrastructure in which to live and do business.

Longer term, bioinformatics and biotechnology will transform healthcare (and, for that matter, our concepts of life), and we are already seeing a resurgence of material science as a cutting-edge discipline with the advent of nanotechnology.

With radical shifts in technology likes these, there are many opportunities for the incumbents in various sectors to be displaced by newer companies who have got the vision and have also executed it brilliantly. When transitions like these are happening, there are huge wealth creation opportunities.

Who would you most like to meet?
ET. Not the Spielberg creation, but a real one! Boy, do I have some questions for him/her/it….

Henry Nash is now involved in his next venture Nanomuscle, a company specialising in the production of small linear motors. 

For more information:
http://www.ariadnecapital.com/team_henry.htm

NanoMuscle secures $5million in second round funding….