About the company
Meraki is a rapidly growing company whose mission is to bring affordable Internet access to the next billion people worldwide.
Meraki's wireless networking technology began its development in the labs of MIT and has since gained rapid commercial adoption around the world, helping millions of users connect to the Internet. By focusing on rapid network deployment and simplified operations, Meraki's patented networking systems and technologies are fundamentally changing the economics of providing Internet access around the world. Our customers span 125 countries and range from operators covering individual buildings, to large carriers connecting entire towns and regions.
Meraki is based in San Francisco, California, and is a privately held company backed in part by Google and Sequoia Capital.
The meaning of Meraki
Meraki (may-rah-kee) is a Greek word that means doing something with soul, creativity, or love. It’s when you put something of yourself into what you’re doing.
Executive Team
Sanjit Biswas, CEO and Co-Founder
Sanjit Biswas is responsible for Meraki’s strategic direction and day-to-day operations. He is currently on leave from the Ph.D. program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he co-led the research project that won several academic awards and later became the foundation of Meraki’s wireless mesh technology. Sanjit holds a B.S. in Computer Systems Engineering from Stanford, and an S.M. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.
John Bicket, Chief Technical Officer and
Co-Founder
John Bicket is responsible for the technical direction and development of Meraki. John was most recently a Ph.D. student in the Parallel and Distributed Operating Systems group at MIT, where he co-led the research project that later became Meraki. John holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Cornell University, and an S.M. degree in Computer Science from MIT.
Hans Robertson, VP Product Management and
Co-Founder
Hans Robertson is responsible for Meraki’s product and service definition and strategy. Hans most recently led a product management team at EMC that brought a new virtualization system to market. He was also an early member of the sales and business development team at VMware, where he created their first partner programs. Hans began his career as a business analyst at McKinsey & Co. and holds an S.B. and M.Eng in Computer Science from MIT.
Michael McBride, VP Sales
Michael McBride leads worldwide sales at Meraki. In this role he oversees sales, professional services, and global channels. Prior to Meraki, Michael was National Director of Sales at Motorola Good Technology Group, where he led the Cingular/AT&T sales team that was responsible for nearly 50% of Good's revenue. Michael also held roles in strategic sales and product management at Good.
Earlier in his career, Michael was Director of Business Development at Be, Inc., an operating system software company. He was also Co-Founder and VP Marketing at StarCode Software and an investment banking analyst at Cowen & Company. Michael holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and M.B.A. from Stanford
Ivan Montoya, VP Marketing
Ivan Montoya brings over 16 years of experience helping large and entrepreneurial companies achieve rapid sales growth. Prior to Meraki, Ivan worked at Yahoo! and led marketing for the local search and communications business units. Before Yahoo!, Ivan spent six years at Covad Communications helping launch a new business unit from inception to sales of over $120 million, led post merger integrations of three companies, and was instrumental in launching and growing all of Covad’s sales channels. Earlier in his career, Ivan worked at McKinsey & Company with clients in high tech, healthcare, and banking industries. Ivan holds a BA in Economics from Harvard College and an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University.
Paul Martecchini, VP Advertising
Paul Martecchini leads Meraki's content and advertising strategy. Prior to joining Meraki, Paul served as a Sr. Director at Yahoo for eight years, where he created monetization strategies for some of the Internet’s top destinations and successfully led sales strategies generating hundreds of millions of dollars across several emerging platforms including Mobile, Digital TV, and PC Client software . Paul holds an M.B.A. from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University as well as a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell.
Board of Directors
Sanjit Biswas
Sanjit Biswas is responsible for Meraki’s strategic direction and day-to-day operations. He is currently on leave from the Ph.D. program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he co-led the research project that won several academic awards and later became the foundation of Meraki’s wireless mesh technology. Sanjit holds a B.S. in Computer Systems Engineering from Stanford, and an S.M. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.
John Bicket
John Bicket is responsible for the technical direction and development of Meraki. John was most recently a Ph.D. student in the Parallel and Distributed Operating Systems group at MIT, where he co-led the research project that later became Meraki. John holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Cornell University, and an S.M. degree in Computer Science from MIT.
Douglas Leone
Douglas Leone is a Managing Director at Sequoia Capital focusing on internet and communication investments. Prior to joining Sequoia Capital in 1988, Doug held sales and sales management positions at Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard and Prime Computer. Douglas has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, an MS in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University, and an MS in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Nicholas K. Pianim
Nicholas K. Pianim is a Managing Director at DAG Ventures. Prior to joining DAG Ventures in 2007, Nick was Vice President of Corporate Development at Juniper Networks where he was responsible for acquisitions, commercial transactions and venture investments. Previously he was CFO for Ensemble Communications where he oversaw corporate development, and CEO of iAsiaWorks, a NASDAQ listed datacenter and managed services company. He also worked with Enterprise Partners Venture Capital on a variety of development and investment assignments and with Morgan Stanley International. Nick received a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Pat Romano
Pat Romano is President and CEO of 2Wire. Prior to his appointment as president and CEO, Pat was vice president and general manager of the 2Wire gateway business unit. Before that, he served as the company’s vice president of engineering and chief technology officer. Prior to co-founding 2Wire, Pat held several engineering and marketing director-level positions at Polycom, Inc. In 1989, Pat co-founded Fluent, Inc., a digital video networking company, and served as chief architect until the company was sold to Novell Corporation in 1993. Pat earned his undergraduate degree in computer science from Harvard University, and received his master’s degree from the MIT Media Laboratory
Technical Advisors
Dr. Robert Morris, Technical Advisor
Robert Morris is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at MIT, where he is a member of the Parallel and Distributed Operating Systems group. He has published extensively on wireless networks, distributed operating systems, and peer-to-peer applications. In 1988 his discovery of buffer overflow first brought the Internet to the attention of the general public. He has an AB and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Harvard. Dr. Morris also started Viaweb, the first ASP, which became the Yahoo! Store.
Dr. Hari Balakrishnan, Technical Advisor
Hari Balakrishnan is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, where he leads the Networks and Mobile Systems research group. His research spans overlay and peer-to-peer networks; Internet routing, congestion control, and architecture; wireless and sensor networks; network security; and distributed data management.
Investors
Sequoia Capital provides venture capital funding to founders of startups who want to turn business ideas into companies. As the "Entrepreneurs Behind the Entrepreneurs", Sequoia Capitals Partners have worked with innovators such as Steve Jobs of Apple Computer, Larry Ellison of Oracle, Bob Swanson of Linear Technology, Sandy Lerner and Len Bozack of Cisco Systems, Dan Warmenhoven of Network Appliance, Jerry Yang and David Filo of Yahoo!, Jen-Hsun Huang of nVIDIA, Michael Marks of Flextronics, Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen of YouTube. To learn more about Sequoia Capital visit www.sequoiacap.com
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.
DAG Ventures is a venture capital partnership investing in and helping outstanding entrepreneurs create leading, long-term companies across a range of markets. With roots from the 1980’s in cable TV, infrastructure, media, and wireless industries, the partnership today is privileged to work with world-class entrepreneurs as they build tomorrow’s leaders in the information technology, energy, and life science sectors.