Former Joost CEO Mike Volpi Jumps to Index Ventures

By Jordan Golson | Monday, July 6, 2009 | 9:27 AM PT | 1 comment |

3030100306_79d180583b_mFormer Joost CEO Mike Volpi won’t be waiting in line at the unemployment office. He’s landed at Index Ventures — which invested in Joost two years ago. It seems they still believe in Volpi, even if his company did implode. Volpi will work out of Index’s London office, where, according to a press release, “he will lead early stage investments in the Internet, telecom/networking and media sectors and contribute to the firm’s later-stage growth fund.”

“I have background in networking so I will go back to my old stomping grounds,” he said during a phone conversation. He is also looking at enterprise infrastructure and related software opportunities. “Index has given me a fair range of flexibility.” Volpi has known Danny Rimer, the driving force behind Index Ventures for a long time and said that it was that relationship which helped him make the decision to join the venture fund.

He will also stay on as chairman at Joost, as the company transitions from it’s much-hyped video-streaming platform, to become a (yet another) white-label video provider. Volpi told AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher in an interview today that it’s a great time to be a VC: “In a market downturn, it is a good time to invest. There are a lot of great opportunities out there now.” I wonder if Joost’s backers said the same thing when they were pouring their money into the startup’s black hole?

Updated with comments from Volpi who talked with Om Malik.

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  • He is now where he belongs. He did not have any previous experience running a high tech start up. In my experience VC people are the worst operation managers you can find anywhere.

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