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Mark Leslie

MarkLeslie
Lecturer in Management

Teaching Statement

Mark Leslie is a successful retired entrepreneur and continues to be active in the Silicon Valley community. In his relationship with Stanford GSB he focuses on course and case development in the areas of entrepreneurship, and he co-developed and teaches the school’s seminal course on sales organizations. His courses cover many topics related to the growth of Silicon Valley companies, as well as companies around the United States and abroad. He is an energetic and devoted teacher, and states that his aspiration is “…to impact all and to inspire a few."

Bio

Mark Leslie is a Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he teaches courses in Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Sales Organization. He is also the managing director of Leslie Ventures, a private investment company, and serves on the boards of two public companies, six private companies, and three nonprofit organizations.

Mark Leslie was the founding Chairman and CEO of Veritas Software. During his tenure as CEO, the company went from 12 employees to 5,500 employees deployed globally, and from a revenue base of $95,000 per year to $1,500,000,000 per year. In 2000, Veritas was the 10th largest independent software company by revenue, third largest by market capitalization, and achieved the distinction of becoming a Fortune 1000 company.

From 1980 until 1990 he served as president and chief executive officer of two Silicon Valley high-tech start-up companies. His prior experience included sales management, sales executive, systems engineer, and OS programmer.

Mark currently serves on the board of Model N Corporation (NYSE: MODN), and a number of privately held high-technology corporations, including Big Switch, Interana, Liquid Robotics, Nebula, Nutanix, PernixData, Pure Storage, Skybox Imaging, Model N Software (NYSE: MODN), SugarCRMa and Zerto.  Mark is on the boards of nonprofit organizations NYU Board of Trustees, Board of  Overseers, NYU Science Advisory Board (Chairman) and Leslie Family Foundation.

Mark received a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics and mathematics from New York University in 1966 and completed Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development (PMD)in 1980.

Academic Degrees

  • PMD Executive Management Program, Harvard Business School, 1980
  • BA, New York University, 1966

Academic Appointments

  • At Stanford University since 2001
  • Lecturer in Management Science and Engineering, Stanford School of Engineering, 2002
  • Lecturer in Business, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, 2001
  • Fellow at Judge Business School, Cambridge University

Professional Experience

  • Founder, President, CEO, and Chairman, Veritas Software, 1990-2001
  • Chairman, President, and CEO, Rugged Digital Systems, Inc., 1984-1989
  • Founder, President, and CEO, Synapse Computer Corp., 1980-1984

Publications

Journal Articles

Mark Leslie, Charles A. Holloway. Harvard Business Review. July 2006.

Courses Taught

Degree Courses

2015-16

GSBGEN 566 will be an elective course offered to 2nd-year MBA and MSx students. The goal of this course is to improve students' judgment in confronting ethical situations encountered in the normal course of business activities. Classes use the...

This course is offered for students who at some time may want to undertake an entrepreneurial career by pursuing opportunities leading to partial or full ownership and control of a business. The course deals with case situations from the point of...

2014-15

GSBGEN 566 will be an elective course offered to 2nd-year MBA and MSx students. The goal of this course is to improve students' judgment in confronting ethical situations encountered in the normal course of business activities. Classes use the...

This course is offered for students who at some time may want to undertake an entrepreneurial career by pursuing opportunities leading to partial or full ownership and control of a business. The course deals with case situations from the point of...

Stanford Case Studies

Dawn Lepore | E576 Background
Mark Leslie, Sara Rosenthal2015
Dawn Lepore | E576A
Mark Leslie, Sara Rosenthal2015
Dawn Lepore | E576C
Mark Leslie, Sara Rosenthal2015
Dawn Lepore (B) | E576B
Mark Leslie, Sara Rosenthal2015
Nebula: The Fall of a Company | E574
Robert Siegel, Mark Leslie, Matthew Saucedo2015
Blue River Technology A | E480A
Mark Leslie, Russell Lewis Siegelman, Austin Kiessig2013
Blue River Technology B | E480B
Mark Leslie, Russell Lewis Siegelman, Austin Kiessig2013
Sage Networks | E453
Mark Leslie, Kirk Bowman, Sara Rosenthal2012
SeaMicro - Moment of Decision | E459
Mark Leslie, Sara Rosenthal2012
Progreso Financiero: Growing Sales | E395
Arar Han, James Lattin, Mark Leslie2011
Traction Ventures - Part A | E428A
Mark Leslie2011
Traction Ventures - Part B | E428B
Mark Leslie2011
Traction Ventures - Part C | E428C
Mark Leslie2011
Kevin Donnelly at New Wave Ventures | E391
Mark Leslie, Andrew Rachleff2010
Mary Simmons (A) | E382A
Jocelyn Hornblower, Mark Leslie2010
Mary Simmons (B) | E382B
Jocelyn Hornblower, Mark Leslie2010
Note on IPO Share Allocation | E377
Mark Leslie, Claire Magat, Michael Marks2010
Valley Systems (A) | E385A
Jocelyn Hornblower, Mark Leslie, John Morgridge2010
Valley Systems (B) | E385B
Jocelyn Hornblower, Mark Leslie, John Morgridge2010
Vocera Communications (B) | E152B
James Lattin, Mark Leslie, Brett Lang2010
Better Place | E349
Jocelyn Hornblower, Mark Leslie2009
Jive Software | E360
Mark Leslie, Mark Stevens, Claire Magat2009
Levi Strauss & Co. (A) | E350A
Mark Leslie, Katherine Bose2009
Levi Strauss & Co. (B) | E350B
Mark Leslie, Katherine Bose2009
Levi Strauss & Co. (C) | E350C
Mark Leslie, Katherine Bose2009
Levi Strauss & Co. (D) | E350D
Mark Leslie, Katherine Bose2009
XenSource (C) | E267C
Mark Leslie, Katherine Bose2009
Mercado | E296
James M. Lattin, Mark Leslie, Bethany Coates2008
XenSource (B) | E267(B)
Mark Leslie, Katherine Bose2008
NetApp, The Day-to-Day of a DM | E263
Mark Leslie, Patrick Arippol2007
XenSource (A) | E267A
Mark Leslie, Katherine Bose2007
Xsigo Systems | E270
Mark Leslie, Andrew Rachleff, Victoria Chang2007
Clearion Software | E232
Mark Leslie, James Lattin, Mike Harkey2006
Connetics and Relaxin | E200
Robert Chess, Mark Leslie, Joshua Spitzer2006
Nektar Therapeutics | E230
James Lattin, Mark Leslie, Joshua Spitzer2006
Presidio Solutions | E209
Mark Leslie, James Lattin, Joshua Spitzer2006
Scalix Corporation, The Evolution of a Sales Model | SM147
Mark Leslie, James Lattin, Mike Harkey2006
Avaya (A) - How To Go To Market | E184A
Mark Leslie, Alex Tauber2005
Avaya (B), Implementing The New Go-To-Market Model | E184B
Mark Leslie, Alex Tauber2005
Bausch & Lomb Sales Force Reorganization | E213
Mark Leslie, James Lattin, Angie Strange2005
Implementing Sales Force Automation at Quantium Technology | M311
James Lattin, Mark Leslie, Dana Nunn2005
Lundberg Systems, 3 Vignettes | E186
Mark Leslie, James Lattin, Mike Harkey2005
OuterBay and EMC | E177
James Lattin, Mark Leslie, Alicia Seiger2005
Veritas 1999 (B): Integrating Sales Forces | SM120B
Tom Federico, Mark Leslie2005
Veritas 1999 (C): Integrating Sales Forces | SM120C
Tom Federico, Mark Leslie, Erin Yurday2005
ComStar, Reinventing The Channel | E172
Mark Leslie, Alicia Seiger2004
Crystal Decisions | E169
Mark Leslie, Alex Tauber2004
Philip Reade | E183
Mark Leslie, Alicia Seiger2004
Inkra Networks | E157
James Lattin, Mark Leslie, Jamie Earle, Robert Magowan2003
Med-Mart, Transitioning The Business Model (A) | E163A
James Lattin, Mark Leslie, Erin Yurday2003
Med-Mart, Transitioning The Business Model (B) | E163B
James Lattin, Mark Leslie, Erin Yurday2003
Med-Mart, Transitioning The Business Model (C) | E163C
James Lattin, Mark Leslie, Erin Yurday2003
OuterBay Building a Sales Force | E161
James Lattin, Mark Leslie, Alicia Seiger2003
Veritas 1999 (A): Integrating Sales Forces | SM120A
James Lattin, Mark Leslie, Erin Yurday2003
VMware | E149
Mark Leslie, Jamie Earle2003
Vocera Communications | E152
James Lattin, Mark Leslie, Jamie Earle2003
Zaplet | OIT37
Jeff Eisen, Charles Holloway, Mark Leslie2003

Stanford University Affiliations

Service to the Profession

Board of Directors

  • Wall Street Systems, 2008-present
  • Sugar CRM, 2008-present
  • Xsigo Systems, 2007-present
  • NetApp, 2004-present
  • ModelN Software, 2001-present

Insights by Stanford Business

December 19, 2015
Explore Stanford Business stories from 2015, including pieces on technology, finance, and work-life balance.
December 15, 2015
Which new tech opportunities have Silicon Valley buzzing? Six insiders tell the rest of us what they think the future holds.
July 8, 2015
Leslie’s Law shows how startups can own their markets.
April 1, 2015
A lecturer in management shows why only a select few companies manage to extend their lives decades beyond the competition.
September 1, 2006
Researchers suggest a more measured approach to market development could reduce startup flameouts.