Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist to Discuss Business Opportunities With UCSB Students

Roger B. McNamee, co-founder of several highly successful Silicone Valley venture capital companies, has been chosen to give UC Santa Barbara's Eighth Annual Herbert C. Kay Undergraduate Lecture.

McNamee will discuss "The New Normal: Great Opportunities in a Time of Great Risk," at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 26 in Corwin Pavilion.

The talk is free and open to the public.

The lecture is supported by an endowment from Herbert C. Kay, a former professor of economics at UCSB who built a prosperous career in business after leaving the university in the 1960s. The Kay Lecture seeks to bring to campus accomplished business professionals to inspire and educate undergraduate students.

McNamee, a co-founder and general partner of Integral Capital Partners, Silver Lake Partners, and Elevation Partners, has made his reputation by backing high tech companies involved in computers, software, aerospace, telecommunications, and office supplies. Silver Lake was one of the first large-scale private equity fund focused on technology and raised $2.3 billion in capital in 1999.

Since 2004, McNamee has been part of Elevation Partners, a pioneering private equity firm involved in media and entertainment content. He is a frequent speaker at industry and investor conferences and guest on "Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street" television program on CNBC.

His book, "The New Normal: Great Opportunities in a Time of Great Risk"---on which he will base his lecture---offers a plan for balancing family, career, and financial issues in a time that despite its uncertainty still offers increased opportunity.

McNamee seeks balance in his own life, as well.

In his spare time, he plays guitar and is the lead vocalist in the Flying Other Brothers, a popular Bay Area rock band, which just released its fourth self-produced CD, "San Francisco Sounds."