Key Person: Why is Peter Levine important?
Peter Levine is important because he represents one of the most successful examples of an operator-turned-investor in venture capital, combining deep technical expertise with proven entrepreneurial success, having built and sold XenSource to Citrix for $500 million before becoming a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. His investment acumen is demonstrated through his leadership of A16Z's $100 million GitHub investment in 2012, which became one of the most successful venture capital investments in history when Microsoft acquired GitHub for $7.5 billion, generating over $1 billion in returns for the fund. Levine's influence extends beyond individual investments to his role in identifying and articulating major technology trends, particularly his early recognition of the "enterprise renaissance" and the shift toward mobile-native enterprise applications that has shaped how venture capital firms evaluate enterprise software opportunities. His dual perspective as both a former CEO who successfully navigated a major acquisition and a seasoned venture capitalist gives him unique credibility with entrepreneurs and limited partners, making him one of the most sought-after board members and advisors in the enterprise software sector. Through his board positions at transformational companies like DigitalOcean, Mixpanel, Shield AI, and others, plus his advisory roles at MIT and Boston University, Levine serves as a bridge between academic research, entrepreneurial innovation, and institutional capital, helping to shape the next generation of enterprise technology leaders and investment strategies.
Peter Levine is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley's most prestigious venture capital firms, where he focuses on enterprise investing across sectors including AI, cybersecurity, deep tech, and enterprise software with investments ranging from $50,000 to $50 million. He brings over three decades of technology industry experience as both an entrepreneur and executive, having served as CEO of XenSource, a leading enterprise virtualization software company that he successfully sold to Citrix for $500 million in 2007, after which he became senior vice president and general manager of Citrix's Data Center and Cloud Division. Before his entrepreneurial success, Levine spent 11 years at VERITAS Software where he rose from software engineer to executive vice president, helping grow the organization to over 5,000 employees and more than $1.5 billion in revenue, and also served as a general partner at Mayfield Fund. His most notable investment achievement came through leading Andreessen Horowitz's $100 million investment in GitHub in 2012, which was both the firm's largest investment ever and GitHub's first outside funding round, ultimately generating over $1 billion in returns when Microsoft acquired GitHub for $7.5 billion. Levine currently serves on the boards of numerous high-profile portfolio companies including DigitalOcean, Mixpanel, Shield AI, PlanetScale, and Udacity, while also maintaining prestigious advisory roles at MIT's School of Engineering and Boston University's board of trustees. He is recognized as one of the most influential voices in enterprise software investing, having articulated the concept of an "enterprise renaissance" driven by mobile-native applications and distributed infrastructure, making him one of the most sought-after board members and strategic advisors in the technology industry.