Former MySQL Chief joins Benchmark

Marten Micos will be the newest entrepreneur-in-residence at the firm that helped fund his company.

Marten Micos, former MySQL CEO, is joining Benchmark Capital as an entrepreneur in residence, according to his Tweet yesterday.

Micos headed up MySQL, the most widely-used open-source database, for 7 years until its acquisition by Sun in January 2008 for $1 billion. In a testament to MySQL's dominance, the EU is stalling Oracle's acquisition of Sun as regulators decide whether the two database giants constitute a monopoly.  

Benchmark invested in MySQL's $20 million Series B round in 2003, when the company was 2 years old.  Benchmark partner Kevin Harvey was chairman of MySQL's board before the acquisition.

In a tweet yesterday, the 48-year old Fin explained his thinking: "Why I like @benchmark: They consistently ask 'What's best for the entrepreneur?' and they think big."