Roger Thornton
General Partner
“Get to the core of what your customer needs versus what they want. If you do this well, you will crush competitors focused simply on what the customer asked for.”
Backstory
Roger is a driving force behind hundreds of technology products and services that have formed and grown companies across a range of industries. As a founder and CTO, his visionary product and technology leadership helped create cybersecurity industry leaders Fortify Software and AlienVault. As an investor, mentor and board member he has helped multiple generations of entrepreneurs build more than 15 successful cybersecurity companies. In his General Partner role at Ballistic, Roger taps into over 30 years of experience and counsels future generations of cybersecurity founders who are focused on building great products as a foundation for great companies.
Photo:
WITH FORTIFY IN SEOUL, KOREA CIRCA — 2003
Fun fact
Bay Area native, now found between Texas and Japan.
Founder’s experience
“In the early stages, it is not just performance, but also your sanity that depends on strong board-level advocates who have walked in your shoes and truly understand cybersecurity. It’s crucial to surround yourself with operators like Roger and his partners at Ballistic.”
Karim Toubba
Founder’s experience
“I have worked with several of the Ballistic partners for many years. Some are proven VCs with a long track record of success. Others, like Roger, are phenomenal operators who can read markets, recruit great talent, and help build products and companies. As a team, I think of them more as co-founders with money than traditional VCs.”
Russ Spitler
Investments at Ballistic
At Ballistic, we take a unique approach where every partner is dedicated to supporting every portfolio company, ensuring comprehensive and personalized guidance across all of our investments.
Founded, funded, or operated prior to Ballistic
ENGAGEMENT
Series Seed Investor*
OUTCOME
Private
PARTNERED IN
2021
ENGAGEMENT
Series A Investor*
OUTCOME
Private
PARTNERED IN
2021
ENGAGEMENT
Series B Investor*
OUTCOME
Private
PARTNERED IN
2021
ENGAGEMENT
Series B Investor
OUTCOME
Private
PARTNERED IN
2021
ENGAGEMENT
Series Seed Investor*
OUTCOME
Acquired by Darktrace
PARTNERED IN
2020
ENGAGEMENT
Series B Investor*
OUTCOME
Private
PARTNERED IN
2020
ENGAGEMENT
Series B Investor*
OUTCOME
Private
PARTNERED IN
2020
ENGAGEMENT
Series A Investor*
OUTCOME
Acquired by Formstack
PARTNERED IN
2020
ENGAGEMENT
Series A Investor*
OUTCOME
Private
PARTNERED IN
2018
ENGAGEMENT
Series B Investor*
OUTCOME
Acquired by Sumo Logic
PARTNERED IN
2018
ENGAGEMENT
Series Seed Investor*
OUTCOME
Private
PARTNERED IN
2017
ENGAGEMENT
Strategic Advisor
OUTCOME
Acquired by FireEye
PARTNERED IN
2017
ENGAGEMENT
Board of Directors Member
OUTCOME
Acquired by Imperva
PARTNERED IN
2015
ENGAGEMENT
Board of Directors Member
OUTCOME
Acquired by Cisco
PARTNERED IN
2013
ENGAGEMENT
Strategic Advisor
OUTCOME
Acquired by Kroll
PARTNERED IN
2011
ENGAGEMENT
CTO
OUTCOME
Acquired by AT&T
PARTNERED IN
2010
ENGAGEMENT
Founder
OUTCOME
Acquired by Hewlett-Packard
PARTNERED IN
2002
ENGAGEMENT
Series A Investor
OUTCOME
Acquired by BlackBerry
PARTNERED IN
1996
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