Mar Hershenson

Mar Hershenson is passionate about soccer but mostly about FC Barcelona. More than 20 years after immigrating to the U.S. from Spain, she enjoys few things more than watching Blaugrana prevail in a close match with Real Madrid. As a co-founder and managing partner at Pear Ventures, she brings operational and technical expertise to the investment team. After earning a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1999, she had developed a ground-breaking technique for optimizing the design of analog semiconductors.

Having combined a hardware/software focus during her studies, she spent the next 13 years co-founding three startups in the mobile/e-commerce, enterprise software, and semiconductor industries, work that led eventually to her registering 14 separate patents.

Mar has been recognized by MIT Technology Review as a Top Innovator Under 35, named a Champion of Innovation by Fast Company, included by EE Times in its listing of the Top 10 Women in Microelectronics, and awarded the Digital Automation Conference’s Marie R. Pistilli Achievement Award.

When she’s not at work, she’s frequently quilting, a hobby that allows her to combine her loves of art and geometry, ­­two elements that feature heavily in her ability to identify and nurture promising entrepreneurial ventures.

Mar will be on the teaching team for Lean Launchpad Winter Quarter.