Tim Guleri is a Managing Director at Sierra Ventures, responsible for the Firm’s consumer, datacenter infrastructure software, and open source investments. He has led the Firm’s investments in and serves on the boards of Approva, CodeGreen Networks, DotNetNuke, Everest Software (acquired by Trilogy), Greenplum, MakeMyTrip.com (in India), Sourcefire (FIRE: NASD) and CarWale (in India). Tim has also served on the boards of AirMedia (acquired by AOL), Motiva (acquired by Siebel Systems), Net6 (acquired by Citrix Systems) and Octane Software (acquired by Epiphany).

A serial entrepreneur, Tim built two software infrastructure companies before joining Sierra in 2001. He headed Sales and Marketing functions at Scopus Technology (NASDAQ: SCOP), which went public in 1995, and was a leader in the CRM space. After that, Tim founded and was CEO of Octane Software, a leading provider of e-commerce infrastructure, which he sold to Epiphany (NASDAQ: EPNY) in 2000 for $3.2B. “I love helping build companies, and entrepreneur’s can relate to that passion in me,” says Tim. “I’m the coach who played the game before, not just the guy that’s giving advice but has never been on the field.”

Tim’s playbook is built not only on 20 years of hands—on operating and investing experience, but also on a solid technical education. Tim holds a BSEE from Punjab Engineering College in India and a MS in IEOR and Robotics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He began his career at LSI Logic.

When he’s not reading executive summaries for prospective investments or helping a portfolio company’s growth, don’t expect to find Tim holed up in his living room. Three times a week Tim is on the soccer field, playing the physically demanding position of midfielder. In the winter, he adds snowboarding to his sports repertoire. Back at home, his two daughters, ages 8 and 10, remind him that “you can’t take yourself too seriously,” says Tim. “If you love what you’re doing, and attack it with passion, success will inevitably follow.”