# Matt Cain

> Matt Cain is a technology executive who served as Chair, President, and CEO of Couchbase from April 2017 through September 2025, guiding the company from a growth-stage NoSQL database startup through a 2021 NASDAQ IPO and ultimately a $1.5 billion acquisition by Haveli Investments. With an engineering degree from Northwestern and an MBA from Stanford, Cain built his career across a decade at Cisco Systems, senior roles at Symantec, and the presidency of Veritas Technologies' worldwide field operations before joining Couchbase. Under his leadership, Couchbase expanded from pure NoSQL into a multi-model developer data platform powering AI-enabled applications for global enterprises.

- **Role:** Former Chair, President and CEO at Couchbase
- **Organizations:** Couchbase, Veritas Technologies, Symantec, Cisco Systems
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Northwestern University, Master of Business Administration (General Management), Stanford Graduate School of Business, Secondary Education, Jesuit High School
- **Known for:** Led Couchbase's NASDAQ IPO in July 2021, raising approximately $200 million, Negotiated and closed $1.5 billion all-cash acquisition by Haveli Investments (2025), EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 - Northern California Award

## Career timeline

- **1997-~2001** — Early career in technology; began approximately decade-long tenure at Cisco Systems
- **2008-2009** — Director of Product Management and Business Development at Cisco Systems
- **2009-2012** — Senior Director of Product Management and Business Development at Cisco Systems
- **2012-2013** — Vice President of Product Management and Business Development at Symantec
- **2013-2014** — Senior Vice President and General Manager at Symantec
- **2014-2016** — Chief Product Officer at Veritas Technologies (spun off from Symantec); led strategy, product, engineering, and cloud delivery for $2.5B business
- **2016-2017** — President, Worldwide Field Operations at Veritas Technologies; led 4,200-person global team covering sales, retention, channels, services, and support
- **2017** — Appointed President and CEO of Couchbase (April 2017), succeeding founder Bob Wiederhold
- **2019** — Named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 Northern California Award winner
- **2021** — Led Couchbase IPO on NASDAQ under ticker BASE (July 2021), raising ~$200M at ~$1.4B valuation
- **2025-06** — Announced $1.5B all-cash acquisition of Couchbase by Haveli Investments at $24.50 per share
- **2025-09** — Stepped down as Chair, President and CEO of Couchbase upon completion of Haveli acquisition (September 29, 2025)

## Achievements

- Led Couchbase's NASDAQ IPO in July 2021, raising approximately $200 million
- Negotiated and closed $1.5 billion all-cash acquisition by Haveli Investments (2025)
- EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 - Northern California Award
- Named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 Northern California semifinalist
- Grew Couchbase into an enterprise AI data platform serving global enterprises across financial services, retail, travel, gaming, and telecommunications
- Previously led Veritas's separation from Symantec and sale to Carlyle Group as a key executive
- Scaled worldwide field operations team of 4,200 people at Veritas Technologies

## Latest updates

- **2025-09** — Stepped down as Chair, President and CEO of Couchbase following completion of $1.5B Haveli Investments acquisition
- **2025-06** — Announced Couchbase's definitive agreement to be acquired by Haveli Investments for $1.5 billion ($24.50/share)
- **2025-03** — Presented at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco
- **2021-07** — Led Couchbase IPO on NASDAQ (ticker: BASE), raising approximately $200 million

## Links

- Website: https://couchbase.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewmcain
- Twitter/X: http://twitter.com/cainmatthew
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtmCm1Z5XhI
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Couchbase/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/matt-cain
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-16