Dennis Marshall

Dennis Marshall


San Ramon, California, United States
Member since December 04, 2009
  • About
Education
2001 California State University , BA , English
2001 Stanford University Apple MBA Program

I am a(n):

Entrepreneur

Full bio

Dennis is a seasoned internet and business executive, bringing over 20 years of success and innovation in strategic marketing, product management, and business development.

Dennis began his career at software start-ups in Silicon Valley, and was part of the PowerPoint team at Forethought, Inc. before the company was sold to Microsoft.  After a brief stint at Microsoft, Dennis and other Forethought employees started Nashoba Systems, where Dennis took the reigns of the FileMaker product and was instrumental in it's acquisition by Claris (Apple’s software arm).  

Dennis built the FileMaker business from a single product with $5M annual revenue to a multi-platform worldwide franchise generating over $100M annually.  During his 8-year tenure at Claris/Apple, Dennis was Director of Product Marketing, Director of Product Management and Director of Business Development where he managed M&A activity, technology licensing, and spearheaded the company’s entry into web solutions by acquiring early internet products later known as Claris Emailer and  HomePage (HTML editor) while also earning two US patents for software design of his own invention.

After leaving Claris (now FileMaker, Inc.), Dennis joined Java startup Netiva Software, then formed Sandstone Partners, a successful strategic consulting firm with clients including Adobe, Palm, Placeware (now Microsoft LiveMeeting), Handspring, and Ventro among many others.  Recruited by then-CEO Bruce Chizen, Dennis joined Adobe as Director of Consumer Products and services, and managed a team of 15 responsible for over $125M in annual revenue.  Dennis held a board seat at I3A (International Industry Imaging Association), and also managed strategic partnerships with Kodak, Intel, Shutterfly, and Sony.

In 2002, Dennis became Director of Adobe Ventures, managing a $125M fund specializing in early stage startups. Dennis' portfolio included Shutterfly (NASDAQ:SFLY), TuVox (acquired by West Interactive), Digital Fountain (acquired by Qualcomm), Biz360 (acquired by Attensity), Kinecta (acquired by Stellent), Kontiki (acquired by Verisign), and PictureIQ (acquired by Eastman Kodak).

After 6 years at Adobe, Dennis became Vice-President of Marketing & Product Management at SellPoint Inc., a venture-backed e-commerce video startup.  At SellPoint, Dennis established a leadership position for the company in the e-commerce and social video syndication market, helping achieve a 70% increase in customer growth and securing a $7M round of venture financing in January 2008.