Bio

Howard Smith is a managing director at First Analysis and is a managing partner of the firm's venture funds. He has over three decades of experience at First Analysis and works with entrepreneurs as an investor and as an advisor on growth transactions to help build leading technology businesses. Howard leads the firm's work in the cybersecurity, internet infrastructure and Internet of Things sectors. He also built the firm's historical franchises in call centers and computer telephony. His thought-leading research in these areas has been cited for excellence by the Wall Street Journal and other publications. He supports First Analysis' investments in EdgeIQ, Fortress Information Security, ObservIQ, Stamus Networks and Tracer. Prior to joining First Analysis in 1994, he was a senior tax consultant with Arthur Andersen & Co. He earned an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago and a bachelor's degree in accounting with highest honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a certified public accountant.