It’s Been an Incredible Experience – 23 years on the Amazon Board

Managing Director, Tom Alberg, announced today that after 23 years on the board of Amazon.com he intends to step down in May of 2019. Alberg first invested in Amazon.com in the company’s Series A financing in 1995 and is the longest serving member of the board after CEO and founder, Jeff Bezos. Alberg will continue as a managing director of Madrona Venture Group and several corporate and non-profit boards.

“Serving on the Amazon board has been an incredible experience. Amazon’s growth and expansion is a testament to not only how technologies like the Internet have expanded in just 20 years to dominate our lives, but also to the ability of Jeff to build a team that inspires innovation and creativity at every turn,” commented Alberg.

Alberg is a co-founder and managing director at Madrona Venture Group, which invests in information technology companies in the Seattle region with a focus on early stages companies. The firm raised its 7^th fund last year and has nearly $1.6 billion under management. Alberg also serves on the board of Impinj (NASDAQ:PI) and the non profit boards of Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center, the Pacific Science Center and sea.citi. Alberg and his wife, Judi Beck, cofounded Oxbow as well as the Novelty Hill Winery.

The original Amazon board was Jeff Bezos, Tom Alberg and John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins. Doerr left the board in 2010. While the board has grown over the years, the company and Alberg maintained a philosophy of having a balance of business know how and people who are on the cutting edge of technology.

“Being a venture capitalist in one of the healthiest tech ecosystems in the U.S. means that I get a bird’s eye view into the latest trends driving both startups and customer traction. Having this balance on the board for a company like Amazon has been very helpful for the company’s growth,” added Alberg.

Madrona has created strong ties with Seattle anchors, Amazon and Microsoft. The firm holds regular briefings with both companies in key technology areas such as cloud, productivity and new user interfaces such as voice. This connectivity in an increasingly competitive world is helpful for entrepreneurs of early and mid stage companies.