Ted Dintersmith

Activist, Business adviser, Change agent, Idea generator, Investor, Parent, Philanthropist, Social entrepreneur, Startup, World traveler

After a career in venture capital, Ted Dintersmith is focused on issues at the intersection of innovation and education. He is funding and supporting a range of initiatives that seek to improve the life prospects of youth around the nation and globe. He executive produced Most Likely To Succeed and The Hunting Ground, two acclaimed documentaries that premiered at Sundance, 2015. He wrote, along with co-author Tony Wagner, the book Most Likely To Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era. He is now leading a fifty-state campaign to encourage schools to support innovation. His website http://www.edu21c.com describes these initiatives and he can be followed @dintersmith. He is a supporter and active Board member of The Future Project, and working closely with this great organization on the fifty-state tour. In the fall of 2012, Ted was selected by President Obama to represent the United States at the United Nations General Assembly, where he focused on global education and entrepreneurship. Ted is a Partner Emeritus with Charles River Ventures, a leading early-stage venture capital firm, and has financed numerous successful start-ups. Ted served on the Board of the National Venture Capital Association, chairing its Public Policy Committee. Independent industry analysts ranked Ted as the top-performing venture capitalist in the United States for the 1995-99 period. Prior to venture capital, he was a senior executive at Analog Devices, and worked on Capitol Hill on science and technology policy. Ted earned a Ph.D. in Engineering from Stanford University, and his undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary, where he earned High Honors in Physics and English.

life

Our schools, students, and teachers are capable of doing amazing things -- under the right conditions. But we've set up the exact wrong conditions over the past three decades. This will change, and soon.

education, innovation, Venture Capital

With the first name of "Ted" (not "Theodore," not "Edward," but "Ted" from birth), I have lots of TED stories.

Finding the bathroom in the middle of the night in a strange hotel room -- the result of lots of practice.