# Martin Casado

> Martin Casado is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz leading the firm's infrastructure practice. A Spanish-born computer scientist and entrepreneur, he pioneered software-defined networking (SDN) by inventing the OpenFlow protocol during his Stanford PhD. He co-founded Nicira Networks, which VMware acquired for $1.26 billion in 2012, where he then scaled the networking and security business to $600 million in annual revenue. An ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award winner, Casado now invests in cutting-edge infrastructure and AI companies, serving on boards of over a dozen startups while shaping the future of enterprise technology and AI regulation policy.

- **Role:** General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz
- **Organizations:** Andreessen Horowitz, VMware, Nicira Networks, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Stanford University, Northern Arizona University
- **From:** Cartagena, Spain
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Ph.D. in Computer Science, Stanford University, Master's in Computer Science, Stanford University, Bachelor's Degree, Northern Arizona University, Honorary Doctorate, Northern Arizona University
- **Known for:** Pioneer of software-defined networking (SDN), Inventor of the OpenFlow protocol, Co-founded Nicira Networks, sold to VMware for $1.26 billion

## Career timeline

- **1998-2003** — Researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, running large-scale computer simulations for the U.S. Department of Defense
- **2006** — Co-founded Illuminics Systems (IP analytics company), acquired by Quova Inc.
- **2007** — Completed Ph.D. at Stanford University under advisors Nick McKeown, Scott Shenker, and Dan Boneh; developed OpenFlow protocol
- **2007** — Co-founded Nicira Networks with McKeown and Shenker, serving as Chief Technology Officer
- **2012** — VMware acquired Nicira for $1.26 billion; became Fellow and CTO for networking and security
- **2012** — Received ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award for pioneering software-defined networking
- **2012-2016** — Senior Vice President and General Manager of VMware's Networking and Security Business Unit, scaling it to $600M annual revenue
- **2016** — Joined Andreessen Horowitz as ninth general partner
- **2017** — Received honorary doctorate from Northern Arizona University
- **2016-Present** — Leading a16z's infrastructure practice with a $1.25 billion fund, investing in AI and infrastructure companies

## Achievements

- Pioneer of software-defined networking (SDN)
- Inventor of the OpenFlow protocol
- Co-founded Nicira Networks, sold to VMware for $1.26 billion
- Scaled VMware's networking and security business to $600 million annual revenue run rate
- Increased VMware customer base 6x within three years post-Nicira acquisition
- ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award recipient (2012)
- NEC C&C Award recipient
- Inductee of Lawrence Livermore Lab's Entrepreneur's Hall of Fame
- Honorary Doctorate from Northern Arizona University (2017)
- General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz leading $1.25B infrastructure fund
- Board member of 15+ cutting-edge technology companies including World Labs, Cursor, Ideogram, and Fivetran
- Published Ph.D. dissertation: 'Architectural Support for Security Management in Enterprise Networks'

## Latest updates

- **2024-11** — Spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 about AI regulation, arguing against policies like California's SB 1047
- **2024-12** — Expressed cautious optimism about federal AI regulation while maintaining opposition to restrictive state-level policies
- **2025-08** — Participating in Agentic AI Summit 2026 at UC Berkeley (scheduled for August 1-2, 2026)
- **2025** — Active board member and investor in World Labs, Cursor, Ideogram, Braintrust, and other cutting-edge AI/infrastructure startups

## Links

- Website: https://a16z.com/martin-casado/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martincasado/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/martin_casado
- GitHub: https://github.com/mcasado80
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbGzNOBaMzqVGBxA0XPGjug
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martincasado/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/martin-casado
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-04