Venture Capital · Profile from Venture Capital Research Companion
Mohr Davidow Ventures (MDV)
The Menlo Park early-stage firm founded in 1983 by former Intel marketing chief Bill Davidow and Larry Mohr, which built its reputation on semiconductor and enterprise-technology company-building (Rambus, FormFactor), rode the dot-com cycle, made large thematic bets on personalized medicine and clean energy in the 2000s, and stopped raising flagship funds after its ninth fund (2007), with successor activity passing to Wildcat Venture Partners.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1983, Menlo Park, California (some sources give 1985)
- Founders
- William H. ("Bill") Davidow, Lawrence G. ("Larry") Mohr Jr.
- Headquarters
- Menlo Park (3000 Sand Hill Road era); later San Mateo, California
- Ownership / structure
- Private partnership; series of numbered Mohr Davidow Ventures funds (I–IX) with parallel vehicles
- Leadership (2026)
- Inactive as a new-fund manager; last-known general partners included Jon Feiber, Bill Ericson and Jim Smith; Ericson is a founding partner of Wildcat Venture Partners (verify current status of remaining MDV funds)
- AUM / capital raised
- ~$2bn cumulative across funds (aggregator estimates ~$1.85bn–$2bn+)
- Stage focus
- Seed and Series A; technology (semiconductors, enterprise software, internet), later life sciences/personalized medicine and energy
- Signature investments
- Rambus, FormFactor, Shutterfly, Pacific Biosciences, Verinata Health, Ticketfly, Coupa, Navigenics; notable failures and disappointments: Nanosolar (cleantech collapse), the dot-com-era Fund VII cutbacks
7 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1990
Rambus
Founding / Early Venture
2000
Shutterfly
Early Venture
2004
Pacific Biosciences
Series A / Early Venture
2005
Nanosolar
Early Venture
2007
Navigenics
Early Venture
2009
Verinata Health
Early Venture
2012
Ticketfly
Series C