Executive moves, week of Sept. 14, 2009

VC Barnes leaves Oxford Bioscience

late last month was asked to resign as a general partner with Oxford Bioscience Partners after the firm learned that he allegedly not complied with policies governing personal securities trading.

A firm spokesman said that his resignation was immediate and that it was not expected to have a “material effect” on portfolio performance or firm operations.

The spokesman added that Barnes’ alleged transgression involved personally trading in publicly held portfolio companies of the firm without the knowledge of his fellow partners.

Oxford Bioscience is reassigning Barnes’ portfolio company board seats to the three remaining general partners at the firm. The firm currently plans to keep its three GP structure, rather than add a fourth via either promotion or outside hire. Barnes’ departure is not believed to trigger keyman provisions in the firm’s limited partnership agreements.

Barnes joined the Boston-based venture firm in 1999, after he spent time with Robertson Stephens & Co. and Needham & Co. Before that, he was co-founder and CEO of cardiovascular device company Biosyss Corp. Barnes was one of five general partners at the firm, which raised $150 million for its fifth fund, which closed in 2006. According to his most recent bio on the Oxford Bioscience website (which has since been removed), Barnes is a member of the Clinical Cardiology Council of the American Heart Association, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, the Harvard-M.I.T. Health Sciences and Technology Advisory Council and the National Society of Professional Engineers. —Dan Primack

Melton meshes with Mayfield

Emily Melton has joined the Mayfield Fund as a partner. She previously was a director with Draper Fisher Jurvetson, where her portfolio company board seats included MyShape, NearbyNow, ProQuo, Redfin and ShareThis.

Advent announced staff moves

Advent International has hired three new operating partners to focus on the tech and telecom sectors. Joining Advent are Richard Atkins, a former IBM executive; Sergio Giacoletto, former executive vice president of Oracle; and John Hughes, current non-executive chairman of Telecity Group PLC, Intec Telecom SystemsPLC and Spectris PLC.

In a separate announcement, Advent announced that Shweta Jalan has joined the firm as an India-based director. She previously was a director with ICICI Venture in Mumbai.

Notz heads over to Drum

has joined Drum Capital Management as a vice president and manager of investment diligence. He previously was a senior associate with HRJ Capital.

Alta promotes Alexander

Alta Partners has promoted Robert Alexander to the position of director. He joined the San Francisco-based venture firm in 2005 as a principal.

TCV’s Marshall joins TheStreet

Woody Marshall, a general partner at Technology Crossover Ventures, has joined the board of TheStreet.com (Nasdaq: TSCM). TCV invested $55 million in TheStreet in November 2007, buying preferred stock that would convert into common at $14.26 per share. Marshall joins the company to replace TCV Partner Jay Hoag, who quietly resigned from the board earlier this year.

Harvard taps EIRs

Harvard Business School has named four entrepreneurs-in-residence as part of an annual program that asks “accomplished entrepreneurs to commit to either a semester or full academic year, depending on their schedule, of working with faculty and students.” The EIRs are Jeff Bussgang, a partner with Flybridge Capital Partners; Jeff Walker, former chairman and CEO of CCMP Capital Partners; Susan Decker, former president of Yahoo; and Jim Sharpe, former president of Extrusion Technology, which recently sold to RFE Investment Partners.