Next Coast Ventures Adds Three to Entrepreneurs Council
Summary
Sharples previously co-founded and served as chairman and chief executive officer of HomeAway, Inc., a global online marketplace for the vacation rental industry, where he led the company’s successful public offering in 2011 and its $3.9 billion acquisition by Expedia in 2015. In addition to his operational leadership, Sharples has served on the boards KAYAK and RetailMeNot, Inc., which was founded by Cunningham, and helped oversee their successful acquisitions by Priceline and Harland Clarke Holdings, respectively. Prior to founding RetailMeNot, Cunningham served as COO of Bankrate, Inc., taking it public in 1999, and has extensive operational experience from his work as general manager at VML and assistant vice president at H&R Block. Prior to Bessemer, Castelli was the chief executive officer of VacationRoost and LeisureLink, companies that led the charge for integrating ecommerce into the vacation rental industry. These additions aim to further the fund’s developing advisory network, which it plans to continue to grow over the next year as part of their pledge to company building.