Alan is a General Partner at Polaris Partners, a venture and growth capital firm. He joined in 2000 and served as Managing General Partner (2000-2010). He leads investments in ecommerce (LegalZoom, Art.com), digital media, financial services (Focus Financial Partners), and distance learning.

Prior to Polaris, Alan served as President and Board member of The Washington Post Company, a multimedia and education corporation. There he also led investments in a successful portfolio of early stage companies in cellular (Cellular One), distance learning (Kaplan), digital media (washingtonpost.com, WebTV) and e-commerce (Cars.com). Alan began his career at The Boston Consulting Group.

Current outside Board seats include Danaher Corporation (DHR) and IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI). In his not-for-profit activities, Alan is Regent Emeritus and former Vice Chairman of the Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents. He is a member of the MIT Corporation and serves as a board member at edX.org. Alan’s prior business board service included Getty Images, Human Genome Sciences, Inc., Ticketmaster, IDG, and American Management Systems, Inc.