Ann Winblad

Ann L. Winblad (born November 1, 1950) is an American businesswoman. She is a founding partner of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners.

Early life and education

Winblad was born on November 1, 1950, in Red Wing, Minnesota. Born to father Wilbur Winblad and mother Elizabeth Stark, she and five other siblings grew up in Rushford and Farmington.

During her high school years, she was a cheerleader and student valedictorian. Winblad earned her Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and in Business Administration from St. Catherine University and her master's degree in Education from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Career

After earning her master's degree, Winblad joined the Federal Reserve as a systems programmer where she worked for 13 months. In 1976, Winblad and three co-workers left the Federal Reserve to found Open Systems, Inc, an accounting software startup, bootstrapping the company with $500. Winblad cooperated with investor Don Valentine and Open Systems sold its software via the vendor CADO Systems, which had been financed by Valentine. Open Systems was eventually sold in 1983 for $15 million.

In 1984 Winblad gave a candid interview about women in the tech industry.

After Open Systems Inc was sold, Winblad became a tech consultant for IBM and Microsoft. She also invested in Microsoft.

In 1989, Winblad and John Hummer co-founded the venture capital firm Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. It took nearly two years, however, to raise enough funds to launch it, with IBM and The St. Paul Companies as primary investors. In its fledgling years, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners launched 16 startups. Winblad became known as the most important female venture capitalist of her generation.