This is a big day at Matrix. We’re incredibly excited to reveal that Jared Fliesler is joining the Matrix Partners team as a general partner in our Palo Alto office. Jared comes to Matrix from Square, where he served as Vice President of User Acquisition and Business Operations. He was also an executive and early employee at Slide, going on to run the Slide group at Google after its acquisition.
Jared clearly impresses with his experience, ability to spot trends, depth of knowledge across sectors, and out-of-the-box thinking. He has an intuitive grasp of product-market fit and understands how to take a company from concept to commercial success. Our current and future port companies will undoubtedly benefit from their interactions with him.
But as important as his skillset is, it wouldn’t matter if his priorities, goals, and general philosophy differed wildly from our own. We’re a very close-knit team of eight general partners in the US, and we may hire a new GP once every few years – only when we are certain that we’ve made a culture match. This includes things like integrity, loyalty, a willingness to listen, the courage to make tough decisions, and the ability to have fun and embrace a sense of humor in an industry that often takes itself too seriously. We appreciate entrepreneurship and respect the time and energy of those working to build companies that create change. We also value our personal lives and believe that having fun both in and out of the office are vital parts of what makes Matrix thrive.
Anyone who talks with Jared can see his earnest desire to roll up his sleeves and assist in developing a great idea. He is most at home at the whiteboard, and we love the level of excitement and engagement he brings to early-stage teams. Jared is also just an approachable, likeable guy who people want to hang out with and who embraces our core values.
This is a great time for Matrix and Jared's addition further enhances our ability to support the people and technologies that will make a fundamental impact on the ways we live and work.
Welcome, Jared!