People briefs, Oct. 30, 2006

Growney motors on

Managing Director Matthew Growney is leaving Lexington, Mass.-based Motorola Ventures, the venture arm of Motorola Inc., which he co-founded. His new gig is as executive vice president and chief of strategy with Boston-based software and services company Darwin Partners.

Aburida joins Nollenberger

Wael Aburida has joined San Francisco-based Nollenberger Capital Partners as a managing director of technology I-banking. He previously was a managing director with Douglas, Curtis & Allyn and, before that, was director of M&A for Intel Corp.

MedVenture adds EIR

Charlie Liamos has joined MedVenture Associates as an executive-in-residence. He previously served as president and CEO of Fovioptics Inc., a developer of non-invasive blood glucose monitoring devices.

Snow lands in New York

John Snow, former U.S. Treasury secretary, has been named chairman of Cerberus Capital Management, a New York-based private equity firm that offers distressed debt. Before joining the Bush Administration in 2003, Snow had been chairman and CEO of railroad operator CSX Corp.

Four named partner at Austin Ventures

Austin Ventures promoted Craig Milius, Michael Rovner, Phil Siegel and Krishna Srinivasan to partner. Milius joined the firm in August 2000. He focuses on the transportation, information and business services, and integrated media sectors. He previously was at Primus Venture Partners. Rovner joined the firm in September 2000. He focuses on financial technology, information and business services and enterprise software. Siegel joined Austin Ventures as a venture partner in October 1999. Siegel has led the firm’s CEO-in-residence program for the past three years. Srinivasan joined Austin Ventures in February 2000 and focuses on companies in the systems and semiconductor space. Srinivasan was previously with McKinsey & Co.

Jet CEO rides over to Polaris

Polaris Venture Partners announced last week that William J. Allard has joined the firm as an executive-in-residence. Allard was chairman and CEO of Marquis Jet Partners, a provider of private jet travel. Allard currently sits on the board of Athletes’ Performance, a Polaris portfolio company for which he was recruited by Polaris.