- Austin, Texas-based VC firm Next Coast Ventures is adding Brian Sharples, Cotter Cunningham, and Julian Castelli to its Entrepreneurs Council
Austin, Texas-based venture capital firm Next Coast Ventures announced that it is adding Brian Sharples, Cotter Cunningham, and Julian Castelli to its Entrepreneurs Council. And NCV’s addition of these entrepreneurs underscores their mission to assemble a skilled team of industry experts to source and support the best entrepreneurs outside the coasts.
Sharples had previously co-founded and served as chairman and chief executive officer of HomeAway where he oversaw the company’s successful public offering in 2011 and its $3.9 billion acquisition by Expedia in 2015. And prior to HomeAway, Sharples was president and CEO of IntelliQuest Information Group, Inc., a supplier of marketing data and research to technology companies that went public in 1996 and was sold to WPP Group in 2000. Along with the operational leadership, Sharples served on the boards of KAYAK and RetailMeNot, which was founded by Cunningham. And Sharples oversaw their successful acquisitions by Priceline and Harland Clarke Holdings, respectively.
Known as the founder and chairman of RetailMeNot, Cunningham guided the brand to through more than 15 acquisitions while raising more than $300 million in venture capital and took the company public in 2013 (acquired by Harland Clarke Holdings in 2017). Plus Cunningham was also an entrepreneur-in-residence at Austin Ventures where he worked closely with Next Coast Ventures co-founder and managing director Thomas Ball. Before founding RetailMeNot, Cunningham served as COO of Bankrate and took the company public in 1999.
“I was the first investor in RetailMeNot and had a front row seat watching Brian grow HomeAway when Austin Ventures was the first investor, so I’ve seen firsthand Cotter and Brian’s innovativeness, relentless focus and give-back attitudes propel them to truly iconic status in the Texas entrepreneurial community and beyond,” said Ball in a statement. “As entrepreneurs ourselves, we have carefully selected every member of this Entrepreneurs Council to bring the best and the brightest in the country to mentor our founders, and Cotter and Brian are perfect examples of the incredible caliber of resources we have to offer our portfolio leadership. They have been invested in NCV’s mission and its entrepreneurs since day one, and they have an acute understanding of founders’ potential to successfully scale a business in these markets outside the coasts.”
Castelli is the CFO of Utah-based Voxpopme and chairman of Utah-based NCV portfolio company Chargeback. And he was previously executive-in-residence at Bessemer Venture Partners where he worked on B2B SaaS and technology companies in Utah. Before Bessemer, Castelli was the CEO of VacationRoost and LeisureLink — companies that led the charge for integrating ecommerce into the vacation rental industry. Plus Castelli was previously the chief financial officer and chief growth officer of Primedia, a $300 million media company, and PageNet, a $1 billion public telecom company.
“Julian is the definition of a glass-eating, butt-kicking entrepreneur who shares our vision for what is possible outside the coasts,” added Next Coast Ventures co-founder and managing director Michael Smerklo. “Julian is intimately familiar with the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey and has successfully scaled numerous technology companies in rising innovation hubs like Salt Lake City and Atlanta. At NCV, we are steadfast in our commitment to sourcing and supporting the best entrepreneurs in these rising markets, and the addition of Julian to our Entrepreneurs Council is at the core of that mission, as well as our commitment to expanding our footprint on the ground in these markets.”
