What Happened?

About the Company

The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. The term White House is often used as a metonym for the president and his advisers.

About the Person

Nick Sinai is a venture partner at Insight Venture Partners. Nick works with existing portfolio companies in the data and software sectors, and identifies new opportunities for investment in these sectors.  Nick joined Insight in 2014 from the White House, where he was U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer. At the White House, Nick led President Obama’s Open Data Initiatives to liberate data to fuel innovation and economic growth, and worked to advance innovation in health, energy, education, and finance sectors.  Nick also led the Open Government Initiative to ensure the Federal Government is more transparent, participatory, and collaborative. Nick helped start and grow the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, which brings entrepreneurs and technologists into Federal government.  Nick also played a key role in developing the Administration’s $4.5B grid modernization strategy to build a smarter and more secure electric grid, and helped develop the President’s ConnectED initiative to bring fast broadband and digital learning to 99% of students.  Prior to the White House, Nick led a team at the Federal Communication Commission and played a key role in crafting the National Broadband Plan. While in government, Nick was named to the FedScoop 50, the Top 25 Most Influential People Under 40 in Gov and Tech, and the 25th edition of the Federal 100. Prior to serving in government, Nick was in the venture capital industry at Lehman Brothers Venture Partners (now Tenaya Capital) and Polaris Partners.  Nick co-established the new Boston office of Lehman Brothers Venture Partners, sourced investments, and served as a board representative and advisor to portfolio companies.  Previously, at Polaris Partners since 2004, Nick helped invest in almost a dozen Internet, software, communications and clean technology companies, including an early stage investment in LogMeIn (NASDAQ: LOGM) and a growth equity investment in Confluence, a financial technology company. Nick has also served in executive and advisory roles with two Boston area start-up technology companies, and as a senior advisor to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.  Nick started his career as a management consultant in telecom, Internet, and media. Nick is an inaugural recipient of the newly established Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, where he focuses on data as public infrastructure and the media, policy and economic implications of providing greater public access to government data.  Nick earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University. Nick is a Berkeley, CA native, a private pilot, and the father of twin girls.