Steve Payne
Tech M&A in Palo Alto, California
I co-founded Architect Partners, a Palo Alto-based M&A advisory firm, in 2009. I've been a senior operating executive, a venture capitalist and a dealmaker in Silicon Valley for over two decades.
Most recently, I was Managing Partner of the Ignite Group, a trans-Pacific venture capital firm with funds in Silicon Valley and Tokyo. Before that, I headed New Products at Sega and was EVP Product Development and Marketing at SegaSoft. Two bubbles ago, I left management consulting to head product marketing for a Kleiner Perkins/Sequoia Capital startup. I've been a Director of two dozen private company and non-profit boards.
I suppose one common theme runs through all the above - I like figuring out how products or technologies work, to whom they are most valuable and then how to make things happen. And yes, I'm an engineer.
When I'm not at Coupa Cafe I race sailboats on the San Francisco Bay, cycle through the Santa Cruz mountains and drive my two kids to water polo, volleyball, basketball and lacrosse practice.