One of the most influential entrepreneurs and leaders in tech, Don Lindsay retired as Microsoft’s chief software architect in 2002 to found his own company. In order to continue giving back to society, he went on to become the CEO of Teck.
Don is also a founding partner at Madrona Venture Group, where he has invested in many successful startups such as Expedia, Janus Bioscience, Seattle Genetics and Redfin. He currently serves on advisory boards for Palantir Technologies, F5 Networks and Zillow Group. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Yale University for his work with Yale’s Entrepreneurial Institute in 2013.
Lindsay is a director of both the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and GV (formerly Google Ventures). He was previously a director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, The Nature Conservancy, Cascade Investment LLC and the National Bureau of Economic Research. He served on the boards of several public companies, including Intuit, Real Networks and Starwave.com. Lindsay was also a member of Task Force for Education Reform at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, which spearheaded President Bill Clinton’s national program to make all American high schools into “community learning centers” with internships linked to employers.
He was a director of the National Academy for Engineering, which selects the Fellows of the National Academy of Engineering. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Yale University for his work with Yale’s Entrepreneurial Institute in 2013. In 2014, he was named to “Forbes” magazine’s list of “The World’s Most Powerful People.” In 2015 Don accepted the position of Chairman Emeritus and on the Board of Lionsgate, where he acts as an advisor to CEO Jon Feltheimer on strategic planning and capital allocation for both Lionsgate & Starz and Helios & Matheson Analytics.
In 2012, Lindsay received the Bill Gates Distinguished Service Award. In 2007 he was the recipient of the “Ethisphere” magazine award for Ethics and Corporate Responsibility. In 2006, Lindsay was named one of the “Top 100 Names in Tech” by “Computer Reseller News”.