Stephen Holmes

Stephen Holmes joined InterWest in 1989 and is responsible for all of the company's financial, fundraising, investor relations and administrative functions. Viewed by many in the industry as a leader in venture capital financial reporting, investor relations and administrative issues, Holmes is a frequent guest speaker at conferences hosted by the NVCA, Venture Economics, the Private Equity Investor and the International Business Forum. He coauthored the chapter on "Limited Partner Financial Reporting" for PEI's Investor Relations Manual (published in 2011).

In 2008, Holmes was elected to the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) board of directors, and was a founding member of the NVCA's CFO Task Force. As the voice of the U.S. venture capital community, the NVCA has been instrumental in advocating for public policies that encourage innovation, spur job creation and reward long-term investment in start-up companies.

Holmes is also a member of the International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation Guidelines Board (IPEV Board). The IPEV Board was created in 2005 to develop and promote valuation guidelines and to provide guidance on the application of those guidelines to all worldwide stakeholders in the private equity and venture capital industry, including practitioners, investors, regulators and auditors.

Holmes is a founding member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) Small Business Advisory Committee (representing the venture capital industry). He was also a founding member of the Private Equity Industry Guidelines Group (PEIGG) in 2002. PEIGG, the private equity industry's first broad-based alliance, included general partners, limited partners and service providers participating in both the venture and buyout segments in the U.S. and overseas. The group's objective was to promote consistent and transparent valuation and reporting guidelines for the private equity industry.

Prior to joining InterWest, Holmes was vice president, finance and administration, of the highly successful venture-backed international manufacturer, Specialty Brands, a $140 million specialty foods company headquartered in San Francisco.

Holmes received his M.B.A. with distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, and his B.S. in business administration, summa cum laude, from Lehigh University where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.