Jim Doehrman
OPERATING PARTNER
Jim Doehrman joined Sierra Ventures in 2015 to lead the firm’s CXO Network, Finance, HR, Investor Relations, and Legal initiatives, as well as assist portfolio companies with back office infrastructure. Jim has a background as a COO, CAO, and CFO at public and private technology companies including Automotive SaaS company Xtime (M&A – Cox (AutoTrader) $325M) and digital media pioneer Gracenote (M&A – Sony $265M) just prior to joining Sierra. He was CFO for Managing Director Tim Guleri at Octane Software and helped engineer what was then the largest sale of a private software company ($3.2B). Prior to joining Octane, Jim had his operational and finance training in the public accounting, retail and media industries, including International assignments in London and Mexico City and led the initial IPO of the publisher of “the Dummies” books (eg. “DOS For Dummies”). During his career, Jim has led scores of M&A, debt and equity financing deals valued at over $4B. Jim is a CPA and holds a BA in Accounting and Finance from Southern Methodist University. Jim’s passion outside of work is wine. Ask him about the Sierra Ventures wine label!
Areas of Expertise
- Investor Relations
- Corporate Finance & Accounting Practices
- Process Improvement
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Contract Negotiation & Strategic Planning
- International Operations
- Change Management
- Strategic Partnerships
Insights from Jim
As someone with Finance and Operations training, I spent years in public accounting, then with large global companies, and was CFO for two smaller public companies before joining my first startup in 2000. For the next 15 years, I interacted extensively with VCs while I was working with startups. Sierra Managing Partner Tim Guleri was the former CEO of my first startup. He had joined Sierra Ventures in 2001 and reached out to me in 2015, and, ultimately, offered me my current role. It has been a great ride over the past six years and has allowed me to use my existing experience while learning the many new and complex aspects of the VC world.
- Be Persistent, curious, and paranoid. (I love Intel founder Andy Grove’s mantra: “Only the Paranoid Survive.”)
I keep lists – lots of them. I make lists of things to do – work and personal, things to read, or things to think about. The form does not matter (paper, electronic, etc.) as long as you make them. Making lists allows me to organize ideas for referral later and open my mind to new things. When I follow this practice I find that I rarely have the “did I forget something” moment.