W. Blake Winchell
For the past 28 years, Blake has focused on private equity investments with
Leucadia National Corporation, the Channel Investment Group, Generation
Ventures, The Fremont Group and Partner Ventures. In addition to his role
as Managing Director of Partner Ventures, Blake is the Managing General
Partner of Fremont Ventures.
Fremont Ventures was named by EETimes as one
of the top 10 venture capital firms in the US for adding value to portfolio
companies.
Blake joined Bain & Company in 1978, and was one of the founders of the San
Francisco Bain office. In 1983, he joined the Brae Corporation division of
Leucadia National Corporation (NYSE - LUK) as Vice President of Strategic
Planning, and subsequently founded and managed the acquisition group for
Leucadia.
Blake graduated from Dartmouth College in 1975 with high honors in English
and Economics as a Rufus Choate Scholar where he was awarded the Henley
Economics Award. He received his MBA from the Stanford University Graduate
School of Business in 1979 and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Blake lives in Portola Valley, California with his wife and their three
children. He is a member of the World President's Organization. He is a
visiting professor at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain, one Europe's
leading business schools, where he teaches a highly rated course on
Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital. He is also on the IE Business School
International Advisory Board.
Blake is on the Board of Directors of eSilicon Corporation, Atrenta Inc.,
and Sonics Inc.