Top VC honcho leaves Best Buy
Posted on July 31st, 2008 – 6:35 PMBy Thomas Lee
Marti Nyman, a well-regarded executive who served as Best Buy’s top liaison with Silicon Valley, has left the company amid rumors of a shakeup in the retailer’s fledgling venture capital unit.
Nyman left the Richfield-based company a few weeks back, said Best Buy spokeswoman Susan Busch. She did not say why.
Nyman did not return a message left on his cell phone.
As director of Best Buy’s Global Innovation Network, Nyman lead the company’s efforts to court venture capitalists. Over the past four years, the company has quietly built a network of contacts in Silicon Valley to identify start-ups with promising technology that eventually may land on a Best Buy shelf near you.
Nyman’s work led Best Buy to Sling Media. Founded in 2004, the Foster City, Calif.-based start-up developed a device called the Slingbox, now sold at all Best Buy stores, that allows users to connect a PC, laptop, or smart phone into their home televisions. The company also developed software that remotely controls any audio/video device, including a digital cable box, satellite receiver, digital video recorder and even a still video camera.
EchoStar Corp., a satellite television provider, acquired Sling Media for $380 million last year.
Nyman was to also help find opportunities for Best Buy’s new venture capital fund, Alpha Capital, which would purchase financial stakes in promising startups.
