About ONSET

Dominic Orr

Chairman
Aruba Wireless Networks
San Jose, CA
ONSET Ventures Sponsors: Susan Mason and Rob Kuhling

Dominc Orr's resume is the kind that gets the attention of venture capitalists funding technical start ups. With a BS in physics from City University of New York and a MS and PhD from California Institute of Technology, investors have no doubt that Dominc can grasp complex networking technologies and establish rapport with bright engineers. Equally important, before Dominic became a start up CEO for the first time, he had already spent 20 years in senior management positions at Bay Networks, Hewlett-Packard and Hughes Aircraft.

So when potential investors were evaluating a start up called Alteon WebSystems in 1996, it didn't take long for Dominic's name to surface as a possible CEO. Alteon was founded by four engineers to develop gigabit Ethernet products that increase the performance, scalability and availability of servers and multi-server applications in internet and intranet computing environments.

"I was a senior vice president of Bay Networks at the time," says Dominic, "a company I had joined from HP when it was SynOptics to gain management experience at a smaller company. Ironically, three months after I joined, the company merged and less than a year later I was working in a big company again. So much for my plans to get small company experience."

That's what made the chance to become CEO of Alteon so attractive and that's where Dominic met Susan Mason and Rob Kuhling of ONSET Ventures. "Susan and Rob visited us in San Jose and spent an afternoon with us," says Dominic. "What impressed me most was that Susan and Rob had already researched our space thoroughly and had looked at a number of companies before coming to see us. As a result, they were able to determine that we were a good investment and gain buy-in from the partnership in record time. We were under pressure to close the round as soon as possible and we had a commitment from ONSET that same day."

Neither Alteon nor ONSET ever looked back. The company had a successful IPO in 1999 and was acquired by Nortel Networks in 2000, leaving founders, management and investors very pleased with the outcome. Dominc went on to become president of Nortel Networks, Intelligent Internet Web Systems. He is currently non-executive chairman of Aruba Wireless Networks and an investor in several nascent start ups, taking a breather while he chooses his next full-time commitment.

"What I value most from VCs such as ONSET are their network of contacts – ONSET in particular was very helpful with recruiting – and their role as a sounding board," says Dominic. "No matter how experienced you are, it always helps to have people you trust with whom you can talk through issues and opportunities."