Software pioneer is 'Johnny Appleseed' of start-ups - The Boston Globe

Timely Michael Stonebraker snapshot

Stonebraker is the tech world's equivalent of Tom Brady: an idea guy it seems silly to bet against. His first three companies, all started in the 1980s and 1990s while he was teaching computer science at Berkeley, were acquired by high-tech biggies Computer Associates, Informix, and PeopleSoft for as much as $400 million.

But lately, Stonebraker has been a bit of a bumblebee, flitting from one company to another. In 2003, he started a company called StreamBase Systems Inc., now based in Lexington. Two years later, while still serving as StreamBase's chief technologist, he cofounded Vertica. Both database companies attracted funding from the same two local venture capital firms, Bessemer Venture Partners and Highland Capital Partners. With 2007 almost done, the timing could be right for another start-up.

Software pioneer is 'Johnny Appleseed' of start-ups - The Boston Globe