Brian McAndrews

Former aQuantive CEO Brian McAndrews has worked in packaged goods, television and, most recently, online advertising.  Now, the 50-year-old executive plans to draw on those experiences -- as well as his board positions at startup companies -- to give the venture capital business a try.

Madrona Venture Group today plans to announce that McAndrews is joining the Seattle firm as managing director, the first new partner in seven years and a significant addition given his strong connections in the advertising industry.

McAndrews -- who is best known for selling online advertising giant aQuantive to Microsoft for $6 billion -- was courted by other venture firms. But McAndrews said he was attracted to Madrona because he could learn the ins and out of the venture business from an experienced team.

"I love learning new things and being challenged," said McAndrews, who started his career at General Mills before moving to ABC. "I know I bring certain things to the party here, but I also know that I have a lot to learn." 

McAndrews' next move has been the subject of some speculation since he left the senior vice president role at Microsoft eight months ago. At the TechFlash Live event earlier this year, McAndrews -- the keynote speaker -- joked that the talk was almost like "one big job interview." 

He also indicated a desire to stay in the Seattle area, and he didn't rule out the possibility of creating or joining a new company. 

But in an interview this week, McAndrews said he was attracted to the venture business because he could potentially have a hand in jumpstarting several companies.

"This is a very vibrant, exciting region, and it is one of the top entrepreneurial and VC areas in the country, so there is a great opportunity here," said McAndrews, who sits on the boards of Clearwire and WhitePages. "I don't know if you would call it giving back or not -- but I feel like I have the opportunity to -- rather than impact one company -- have some impact on multiple companies in the ecosystem."

Madrona and McAndrews know each other well.

In fact, Madrona was one of the early backers of aQuantive, a deal that Managing Partner Matt McIlwain said was "obviously a very successful investment for us."  

That investment pre-dated McAndrews arrival at the online advertising firm, which he joined in 1999 when it employed 100 people and had less than $10 million in revenue. (By the time it was sold to Microsoft, the profitable company had more than 2,000 employees and annual revenues approaching $650 million).

McIlwain

Shortly after McAndrews moved to Seattle from an executive post at ABC, Seattle attorney Dave McShea introduced him to McIlwain. The two struck up a friendship.

McIlwain said he's thrilled to have McAndrews on board, citing the executive's ability to identify top talent and get the best out of them. He also said there's a strong "culture fit" with Madrona.

"We think he is pretty special, and we are all about raising the bar here," said McIlwain.

Scott Lipsky, who co-founded aQuantive in 1997 and served as its CTO, said he was curious where McAndrews would land after his stint at Microsoft. And Lipsky, who helped recruit McAndrews to Seattle in 1999, said he thinks Madrona could be a good fit.

"He’s a very strong, smart operator who could add a healthy additional dimension to the leadership at Madrona," Lipsky said.

McAndrews plans to start at Madrona in September at which time he will seek new investment opportunities and work with existing portfolio companies. Obviously, Madrona's portfolio -- weighted with companies like AdReady, BuddyTV, Mixpo and Yieldex that derive revenue from online advertising -- could benefit from McAndrews' connections and insights.

But McAndrews -- having served as a CEO in the past -- says he doesn't want to meddle too much.

"I know that I won't be the CEO and I am very respectful of that boundary," he said. "But I also hope --and expect -- that some of these young CEOs will want some advice from me about what we did well, what we did poorly, what we learned, etc."

McAndrews still is bound by a "non solicit agreement" with Microsoft, which prevents him from actively recruiting former aQuantive or Microsoft employees into new startups. But that agreement ends in December.

Asked about the possibility of tapping into the aQuantive talent pool, McAndrews said he planned to do that where it makes sense. He also wants to use his network to attract people from other companies to Madrona-backed startups.

Madrona raised a $250 million fund last summer. So far, it has made three new investments out of the fund: Animoto, The Alliance of Angels' side car fund and an undisclosed company.

It plans to complete between 20 to 25 deals out of the new fund over the next three to four years. 

McAndrews will certainly play a part in some of those new deals. And he's looking forward to rolling up his sleeves with startups, a new experience given that much of his career has centered around operational roles in bigger companies. 

"The positive side of working with these smaller companies is you have a bigger impact," he said. "And you have the ability to help shape them."

John Cook is the co-founder of TechFlash. Follow him on Twitter @johnhcook.