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Sheila joined McNamee Lawrence & Co. in the summer of 2007 from the premier independent research firm, Off the Record Research, where she led the technology research team in its effort to identify dislocations between sales channel reality and Wall Street expectations. From 1987 to 2002 she held institutional sales, equity research and investment banking responsibilities at Hambrecht & Quist, now a division of JP Morgan Chase.
Sheila joined Hambrecht & Quist in 1987 in institutional sales and was quickly drafted into the equity research department where she served as Associate Director of Research. From 1992 to 1999, she was a publishing equity analyst covering software companies. Her primary focus was on the Engineering Productivity Solutions sector, including design automation companies, manufacturing optimization software vendors, and the makers of enterprise and embedded software development tools. In that capacity, Sheila wrote extensively about the structural changes underway in product development, including the need for web-based collaboration tools in the extended manufacturing enterprises. During that time, Sheila was instrumental in introducing investors to a group of companies who were about to enjoy a new phase of growth as they expanded beyond selling task automation tools to selling product lifecycle management solutions. Largely as a result of this thesis, H&Q completed initial and follow-on public offerings for Applied Microsystems, Computervision, Dassault Systems, Datastream Systems, Integrated Systems, Microware Systems, Rational Software, Rogue Wave Software, Tecnomatix Technologies, Unigraphics Solutions, and Wind River Systems, among others.
Sheila joined H&Q’s Software Investing Banking effort in 1999. She advised enterprise software companies in their efforts to extend their product offerings to encompass suppliers and trading partners. She instituted and led the firm’s M&A idea generation efforts. Her coverage responsibilities ran the gamut of enterprise and technical software companies including Parametric Technologies, Wind River Systems, Integrated Systems, Rational Software, Siebel Systems, PeopleSoft, SAP, Epiphany, Ariba, I2, and the like. During this time, she worked closely with the M&A team closing deals for RightPoint, Trading Dynamics, SalesLogix, Calico, Integrated Systems, Embedded Systems Technology and Rational Software.
In her capacities as an analyst and investment banker, Sheila spearheaded several significant venture investments made by the firm including Agile Software. Additionally, her deep domain expertise, garnered as a highly regarded research analyst landed her the responsibility to tend and develop H&Q’s relationships with key technology venture capitalists. From 2002 to 2005, Sheila served on the board of directors of an early stage software company.
Upon graduating from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law and Society, Sheila began her career as a management consultant for the New Haven, Conn.-based Optima Group.
A transplanted Easterner, Sheila lives in Lafayette, CA with her husband of 17 years and their four children. She spends her spare time as the business adviser to San Francisco-based feature film production company, GrottoFilms. | 