Dana Stalder joined Matrix Partners as a general partner in 2008. He brings to Matrix and our portfolio companies a wealth of experience in starting, building and managing growth at multiple Internet and software companies.

Dana has been integral to the success of some of the most innovative and influential products and brands on the Internet, including Netscape, eBay and PayPal. He has worked through every phase of company development, from founding and raising venture capital to developing new products and expanding into new markets. He has sat on both sides of the table in acquisition talks, and has also taken companies public.

A native of San Francisco, Dana earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from Santa Clara University and went on to become a CPA and consultant at Ernst & Young, where he advised exciting young technology companies, including Netscape, Excite and Intuit. In 1994 Dana left Ernst & Young to help build Netscape, then a nascent company boldly defining the ways in which people were going to use the Internet. In his four-year tenure at Netscape, Dana held several executive positions in finance, sales and operations.

Dana left Netscape after its sale to AOL in 1998 to become a member of the founding executive team of Respond.com, a internet lead generation platform for small  and local businesses. There, he served as the company's Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Business Development.

He joined eBay in December 2001 as Vice President of Finance and ultimately managed all of eBay's Internet Marketing and Strategic Partnership initiatives. In 2004 he joined PayPal, where he he was responsible for most business functions, including Product, Sales, Marketing and, most recently, Technology. Dana led PayPal's international expansion, as well as a number of startup projects including PayPal Mobile and the PayPal Developer Platform.

Dana currently serves on the boards of privately held QuinStreet, one of the largest Internet marketing and media companies in the world, and iRise, the market leader in visualization software for application development. He is on the technology advisory board at DonorsChoose.org. Dana is also an avid wake boarder and loves to ski the bumps on Granite Chief in Squaw Valley.

"What I love about startups is how everyone is so committed and maniacally focused on the same goal. The nail biting that comes from trial and error is exhilarating. One minute the sky is the limit; the next, you are defeated. Getting through those highs and lows together makes you indestructible."

Dana is based in Menlo Park and can be reached by email at dana@matrixpartners.com. His assistant is Hilary Benjamin hbenjamin@matrixpartners.com.