USI Romain College of Business to host Silicon Valley entrepreneur to kickoff Romain Market Makers Speaker Series

The University of Southern Indiana’s Romain College of Business is proud to welcome David Siminoff, noted Silicon Valley entrepreneur, investor and innovator, as the inaugural speaker in the College’s new Romain Market Makers Speaker Series. 

Siminoff will deliver his presentation, How Silicon Valley Creates Wealth: The Story of Intellectual (Not Financial) Capital, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Monday, September 22 in the USI Performance Center. This presentation will offer audiences a rare look into the mindset of an entrepreneur and venture capitalist who has helped shape the internet age and continues to guide the future of technology. The event is open to the public at no charge. 

With a career spanning four decades, Siminoff has been at the heart of some of the most transformative moments in technology and venture capital. He has played a role in more than 1,100 initial public offerings (IPOs), including early funding rounds for PayPal, Google, Amazon, Facebook and Yahoo. His work in growth-stage investing has helped funnel billions of dollars into digital platforms, fueling the explosive rise of the internet and guiding companies from startups to global giants. 

Siminoff began his career in investment research and portfolio management at Capital Research. Later, as Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Shmoop University, he helped shape digital education through innovative test prep and mental health resources for K-12 schools. Today, he continues to shape the tech landscape through current and/or former service as a board member for companies such as Crunchyroll, BlogHer, SlideShare, Coupons.com, Quotient, Tarana Wireless, Spark Networks, Spartan Rader Defense, and non-profit organizations in The Stanford University Athletic Department and The Wyoming Technology Conference, among others.  

Often described as a “power player” in Silicon Valley, Siminoff and his wife, Ellen, were once dubbed the Valley’s “It Couple” by The Wall Street Journal. Ellen is today on the boards of Discovery Education, Big Commerce: BIGC, Verifone, TakeTwo: TTWO, Follett Education and is a Board of Overseers member of The Hoover Institute, run by Condoleezza Rice. 

Entrepreneurial spirit runs in the family—both of his children graduated from Princeton University. Siminoff’s son is an engineer running stealth drone deployment at one of the leading new defense industry companies, Saronic, and his daughter is one of the leaders of Lambda, a GPU/AI chip design company valued at more than $5 billion. His cousin, David Blumberg runs one of the world’s most powerful global venture capital companies, and his other cousin, Jamie Siminoff, is the founder of Ring, the pioneering smart doorbell company. Jamie now runs a large division of Amazon. 

Siminoff earned a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Stanford University along with an MFA in Film Direction and Production from the University of Southern California.  

The Romain College of Business’ new Romain Market Makers Speaker Series brings to campus innovative leaders and visionaries who have helped to “move the market” by shaping industries, driving growth and redefining the future of business.