In November, Mike Perlis stepped down as a general partner with VC firm Softbank Capital, in order to become president and CEO of Forbes Media. It was the second high-level defection for Softbank Capital in as many years, following Eric Hippeau’s decision to run The Huffington Post.
I spoke about the transition last night with Softbank Capital managing partner Ron Fisher, who says the Perlis move appears more significant than it really is. He says that Perlis was a venture partner – not a general partner – on a new $100 million fund that Softbank Capital raised last spring to invest in the social computing space (it also has another, older, fund focused on investments in New York).
Perlis will continue to serve as a special limited partner, however, and Fisher insists that the role can lead to deals. For example, he says that Softbank Capital closed in late December on a new deal originally sourced by Hippeau (who also has a special LP title). Expect that transaction to be announced within the next several weeks.