Ted Schlein

As a teenager, I became an unofficial Apple product tester, thanks to my dad, who was on the Apple board. I played for hours on the Apple II, IIE, IIC, the Macintosh 128K and 512K, the Macintosh Plus, the Lisa and a LaserWriter. This early exposure to computers created an abiding enthusiasm for technology.

In 1982, I met Arthur Rock, a VC pioneer. He also was on the Apple board, and I got the chance to meet him traveling with my dad to see the opening of Apple’s factory in Cork, Ireland. Rock was a legend, and though it wasn’t a long conversation, he left a lasting impression. I tucked away “venture capital” with an inkling I’d come back to it at some point in the future.

While my college friends rushed off to internships on Wall Street, I spent every summer working for tech companies. First, Trace Systems, a personal robotics company, and then T/Maker, a spreadsheet company run by Heidi Roizen. At school, at the University of Pennsylvania, I continued feeding my interest in technology, starting a resume company with my Mac and LaserWriter printer. I also worked on a fledgling software company that started at Wharton, and I got a credit for it from my Econ professor. After graduation, I took a job at Symantec, a new Kleiner Perkins-backed company with 50 people and no revenues. I was off to the races.

There’s nothing more exhilarating than working with a team of passionate, smart people to solve a problem and improve how something works. In my area of focus—cybersecurity—it’s to make the world a safer place. I’m so proud to see Symantec, 25 years after I worked there, still protecting businesses from cyber attacks.

To understand why I love venture capital, you only have to look at the story of Fortify Software.

In 2002, I had an idea for a business that was timely and appeared to have no competition: a static code analysis tool that could identify security vulnerabilities in code and remove them to immunize software. After a year in the Kleiner Perkins basement, we launched the company. Seven years later, with a great product and a strong market traction, Fortify was acquired by HP. Fortify illustrates what defines being a venture capitalist: You are part entrepreneur, part investor and part business advisor.