Gordon Ritter, founder and general partner at Emergence Capital, built his investment career by backing Salesforce in its early days and supporting Veeva Systems when it was still a small start-up.
Ritter led Emergence Capital’s first major investment in Salesforce, the cloud computing company. He later invested in Veeva in 2008, when the business had 25 employees and less than $1 million in revenue.
Veeva has since grown into a significant technology company, with Ritter remaining its chairman. His investment approach was shaped by more than 15 years as an entrepreneur and company builder.
Among the businesses he founded was Software As Service, which he co-founded with Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff. The company went on to become the foundation for the Salesforce Platform.
Ritter also co-founded Whistle Communications, which was acquired by IBM. He subsequently led IBM’s Global Small Business division, a role overseeing a $3 billion operation.
