Ben Shih joined Icon Ventures in 2003, bringing eight years of technology operations and private equity investing experience. With an analytical approach, he thinks broadly about attractive markets for start-ups, but he also enjoys digging into the details of a new technology or a compelling business model. He is a real asset to our portfolio companies and has been instrumental in providing the highest levels of due diligence for our deals and operations for our firm.

Before joining Icon, Ben began his venture capital career with Crystal Ventures, where he focused on a wide variety of early-stage technology investments. Prior to that, he was an analyst for MDT Advisers (Federated Investors), a multi-billion dollar asset management firm. At MDT, Ben was a key member of the team that developed and managed a quantitative hedge fund strategy. Earlier in his career, Ben spent time as a software developer at Lotus Development (IBM).

At Icon, Ben is actively involved with a number of portfolio companies. Prior investments include 41st Parameter (Experian), Avnera (Skyworks), ClairMail (Monitise), DATAllegro (Microsoft) and Infinera (INFN).

Ben earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He received Master of Engineering and Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, along with a Bachelor of Science degree in management science, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.