# Rob Theis

> Rob Theis is General Partner and Chief Investment Officer at World Innovation Lab (WiL), a Palo Alto-based venture firm bridging innovation between the US and Japan with over $1.9 billion in capital commitments. With 18+ years of VC experience and a prior career as a tech operator at Sun Microsystems and co-founder of NEON (acquired by IBM), Theis has backed companies with an aggregate market cap exceeding $85 billion, including HubSpot, DocuSign, RingCentral, and Auth0. He also volunteers as a Sheriff cliff and mountain rescue specialist in his spare time.

- **Role:** General Partner and Chief Investment Officer at World Innovation Lab (WiL)
- **Organizations:** World Innovation Lab (WiL), RingCentral (Board), Computer History Museum (Board), Royal Bank of Canada (Investment Committee)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts in Economics, University of Pittsburgh, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, University of Pittsburgh
- **Known for:** Co-founded New Era of Networks (NEON), the first enterprise software platform to integrate corporate applications and the internet - grew to $200M revenue in 4 years and took public on NASDAQ, Invested in companies with an aggregate market capitalization exceeding $85 billion, Eight successful IPOs across portfolio companies

## Career timeline

- **1983** — Joined Silicon Graphics (SGI) as Product Manager, managing IRIS Series Workstations
- **1986** — Joined Sun Microsystems as executive, held roles for ~10 years accelerating Financial Services business units
- **1996** — Co-founded New Era of Networks (NEON) with Rick Adam and Harold Piskiel; served as EVP/COO, grew company to $200M revenue in 4 years and led to IPO on NASDAQ
- **2000** — NEON acquired by IBM; transitioned to venture capital at Doll Capital Management (DCM Ventures) as General Partner
- **2000-2008** — General Partner at DCM Ventures for 8 years; led 20+ investments including NeoPath Networks (Cisco), PGP Corporation (Symantec), VanceInfo (NYSE:VIT), Tapulous (Disney)
- **2008** — Joined Scale Venture Partners as Managing Director
- **2008-2015** — Managing Director at Scale Venture Partners for 7 years; led investments in HubSpot, RingCentral, DocuSign, BrightRoll, Vitrue
- **2016** — Joined World Innovation Lab (WiL) as General Partner and Chief Investment Officer
- **2020** — Joined RingCentral Board of Directors and Chair of Compensation Committee; joined Avaya Board of Directors (effective November 6, 2020)
- **2022** — WiL closes $1 billion fund, bringing total capital commitments to over $1.9 billion

## Achievements

- Co-founded New Era of Networks (NEON), the first enterprise software platform to integrate corporate applications and the internet - grew to $200M revenue in 4 years and took public on NASDAQ
- Invested in companies with an aggregate market capitalization exceeding $85 billion
- Eight successful IPOs across portfolio companies
- Led investments in HubSpot, DocuSign, RingCentral, Automation Anywhere, Auth0/Okta, BrightRoll, and Fortinet
- Led WiL to raise $1 billion fund in June 2022, bringing total capital commitments to over $1.9 billion
- Board member and Chair of Compensation Committee at RingCentral
- Appointed to Avaya Board of Directors in November 2020
- Board member at Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA
- Member of Royal Bank of Canada investment committee
- Sheriff cliff and mountain rescue specialist and rescue diver (volunteer)

## Latest updates

- **2022-06** — World Innovation Lab closes $1 billion fund, with Theis as CIO overseeing the firm's investment strategy. Total capital commitments exceed $1.9 billion.
- **2020-11** — Appointed to Avaya's Board of Directors effective November 6, 2020.
- **2020-01** — Serving as Board member and Chair of Compensation Committee at RingCentral.

## Links

- Website: https://wilab.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/robtheis
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/robtheis
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/worldinnovationlab/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rob-theis
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-17