“Mike Cassidy has co-founded, served as CEO, and led three consumer Internet companies to market leadership and successful acquisitions. Prior to joining Benchmark, he was CEO of Xfire, the fastest-growing gaming community on the Internet. Xfire made it much easier to play online games with friends, pioneered in-game messaging, and spawned the market for global online gaming events. Xfire is a free, ad supported service that today boasts more than seven million registered users. The company was purchased by Viacom’s MTV Networks in May 2006.
Before founding Xfire, Mike was CEO of Direct Hit, an award-winning Internet search engine acquired by Ask Jeeves in 2000. Before that he was CEO of Stylus Innovation, a creator of computer telephony tools and applications, which was purchased by Artisoft in 1996. Early in his career Mike was an aerospace engineer and also studied jazz piano at the Berklee College of Music.
Other Affiliations: Advisor to From the Top, which encourages and celebrates high school classical musicians, and is active in several other non-profit organizations.
Education: Mike earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.” (Source: Benchmark Capital)
