A son of California alumni who transitioned from high school soccer to Golden Bear rugby as a freshman in the spring of 1987, Pete Sonsini became a two-year starter for the Rugby Bears before earning his degree in 1990 in political economy. Today, as general partner and head of the Enterprise Software Practice Group at New Enterprise Associates, he is the most prolific investor in startup companies that have originated on the UC Berkeley campus.
 
In February, Databricks, a cloud-based data engineering company founded by Berkeley Ph.D.'s and funded by Sonsini and NEA, announced a $1 billion round of Series G funding, raising its valuation to $28 billion. Some of the biggest names in the industry – including Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Salesforce – have lined up either to invest or to incorporate Databricks technology into their products, catching up to the commitment made by Sonsini and his firm.
 
Following the news, Sonsini redirected praise for his latest success back to the people and purpose of the University, where his formative experiences as a rugby student-athlete laid the foundation for his hard work, sharp business acumen, superlative people skills and subsequent success.
 

"Playing at a high level for a distinguished program is a confidence builder in life," Sonsini said. "It comes down to leadership, and I saw that in my teammates and coaches. Cal rugby is a program that develops leaders."
 
Sonsini described Databricks, a unified analytics platform that accelerates innovation by unifying data science, engineering and business, as "a big deal for the University. It will probably be the most successful tech startup coming out of Cal, ever. And these are companies that are not just making money for Cal alumni – they're changing the world."
 
In the cutthroat world of venture capital, nice guys don't typically finish first. But those who have worked with him say Sonsini is different.
 
"Pete is an awesome human being in addition to a great investor," said Databricks CEO and co-founder Ali Ghodsi. "He's no pushover. He's brilliant, competitive, the best of the best. He helped create Databricks into a $28 billion behemoth and didn't do that by being a shoulder to cry on. There were a lot of tough decisions, and he was there in support every step along the way."
 
While Sonsini sits on the boards of 12 companies, Cal-incubated startups hold a particular place of interest. In addition to Databricks, successful companies funded by Sonsini that originated on campus have included Conviva, Veriflow, Unite Networks, Nefeli Networks, Sisu and Anyscale. Sonsini led each of those investments, making him the preeminent venture capitalist for Berkeley-bred startups.
 
Much of the excellence on campus in computer science and related fields has emanated from the AMPLab ("Algorithms, Machines and People"), a five-year collaborative that began in 2011 and evolved to be renamed the RISELab ("Real-time Intelligence with Secure Explainable Decisions") in 2016. AMPLab was the birthplace of Conviva, which delivers leading technology for streaming video over the Internet, and when NEA became the startup's first investor in 2006, Sonsini met Ion Stoica, a professor of computer science and co-director of AMPLab.
 

With the support of Sonsini and NEA, Stoica later co-founded Databricks out of the AMPLab. "None of these companies would have been possible without Pete's support," Stoica said. "At the time when Sand Hill Road's investors were looking only south of San Francisco, Pete was one of the few who had an eye on Berkeley's startups."
 
These kinds of productive partnerships offer true upside and growth potential not just on campus, but across the wider financial community and, through their technological impact, around the world. That they emanate from Cal with backing from Sonsini and other likeminded alumni converges into one very powerful conclusion: the University of California is the place to be.
 
In the Sonsini family, Cal was always known as the place to be. Sonini's mother, Dyanne Ladine, received her degree from Cal in social sciences, while his father, Larry, played football and rugby for the Bears as an undergraduate, then earned his J.D. from Berkeley Law en route to becoming chairman of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a legal giant in global technology, life sciences and other growth enterprises. The elder Sonsini, also a former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange who taught at Cal for 20 years, is a Builder of Berkeley whose love for the University has been passed along to his children.
 
"I love that Pete is among these many fathers and sons who have both played Cal rugby," head coach Jack Clark said. "It really adds a richness to our history and traditions."
 
Pete Sonsini attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto, where he devoted himself year-round to soccer, playing for his school as well as regional clubs. Beyond any athletic ambitions, his aspirations for college were clear. "I always had my sights set on attending Cal," Sonsini said.

 
On campus, Sonsini joined the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, where he became friends with several future teammates who encouraged him to try rugby. The Bears were coming off back-to-back national championships under the leadership of Clark, who would be entering his fourth year at the helm, and the future was bright.
 
Sonsini met others who had made the transition as crossover student-athletes from other sports, including Gary Hein, who arrived at Cal as a gridiron player and became a two-sport starter for the Bears, earning All-America, Oxford Blue and U.S. National Team selections as a rugby player; and Steve Hiatt, another rugby All-American and U.S. National Team player who arrived on campus with a soccer background.
 
"They were some of my heroes, and it was a thrill to play with them," Sonsini said.
  
As he worked hard to improve as a wing, Sonsini witnessed Cal compete in the Pacific Territory, a mass of high-level college rugby programs from which only one team could emerge each year from the Pacific Coast Championship to compete in the national semifinals. The Bears could not reach the final four in 1987, losing at the Pacific Coast Championships, but returned the following year to beat Dartmouth, 9-3, for the 1988 national title.
 
Itching to crack the starting lineup after his sophomore season, Sonsini focused on playing summer 7s to improve his game. Instead, he found himself severely injured after breaking his leg and dislocating his ankle as he was tackled while scoring a try. As Clark and teammates visited him in the hospital, Sonsini considered his future.  "A lot of people maybe wouldn't have come back," Sonsini said. "But I was competitive about wanting to keep on playing."
 
Against long odds, Sonsini rehabilitated his foot, leg and body, becoming a starter on the wing as a junior and senior. "As a player Pete was very quick and uber competitive. He was also the toughest former soccer player ever," said Clark with a smile. "In all seriousness, he wouldn't come off the field. Nobody comes back from that leg injury he suffered to become a starter. He has grit."
 
While the power of the Pacific Territory proved too much for the Bears to overcome in their efforts to reach the national championships in 1989 or '90, the net results of the experience were a skill set and grit that cannot be bought or sold.

  
"The fact that we didn't win the championship at the time was a real heartbreak, but looking back at it, being in the trenches with those guys and playing for coach Clark, those are the memories that have endured," Sonsini said. "All the things that went into what we were trying to accomplish – getting up early, running the fire trail and rallying to play for coach Clark – you learn a lot as part of that process. Sometimes you don't succeed. That's how it goes in life. But all those things become skills that you draw on your whole life, both professionally and personally."
 
Considering the 12 consecutive national titles won by the Bears between 1991-2002, Sonsini and his teammates laid the foundation for great future success on the field with their work ethic. Off the field, Sonsini was heading for success as well.
 
After earning an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern in 1996, Sonsini began his professional career with Hewlett-Packard as a marketing manager, then moved to Mirapoint as the Director of Product Management before making a name for himself as Senior Director for Strategic Alliances at VMWare.
 
Ghodsi, who would meet him years later at Databricks, said Sonsini distinguished himself at VMWare by sealing a deal with IBM.
 
"It was a phenomenal, genius deal he did with IBM, where they became a central selling point of the IBM machines," said Ghodsi. "Like a rugby player at the last second he did this pivot step, everybody missed and that was a huge momentum driver behind VMWare's success."
 
By 2011, Sonsini was named as a "Rising Star" of the next generation of venture capital general partners by Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst. His unique combination of competitive fire and consideration of colleagues made him a highly appreciated partner in all his deals.
 
"There are three characteristics which define Pete in my mind," offered Stoica, who most recently began Anyscale, an artificial intelligence company, out of the RISELab in 2019 with Sonsini's support. "First, he is not afraid to make bold bets. Second, he sticks with the company not only through good times, but also through bad times. He always provides encouragement and support when things are tough, which is very rare among investors. Finally, despite his many successes, Pete is humble, another characteristic that few investors share. My favorite stories about Pete all share the same theme: Pete demonstrating his absolute belief in the future of a company by providing fair term sheets even when other investors shy away, and closing the deal literally overnight. This is what makes Pete not only just another investor, but a true and valuable member of the company."
 
Sonsini is also an important member of the California Rugby Advisory Board, helping to assure a secure future of the oldest intercollegiate sport at the University. In 2018, Sonsini and his father created the Sonsini Family Rugby Endowment.
 
"Pete Sonsini is a very valuable and appreciated member of our board," said CRAB chairman Irving "Bud" Lyons III. "His commitment to Cal runs deep as a legacy student-athlete who has continued to create lasting, supportive, impactful relationships with the University community."
 
In true team spirit, Sonsini sees his ongoing engagement with the University as a win-win for everyone involved. "I'm very proud of the level of investment activity involving entrepreneurs out of Cal," he said. "Just as I am proud of my Cal experiences, my teammates and the work we put in together. I'm proud to be a Bear."
 
By connecting his success to the potential percolating in the campus community, Pete Sonsini offers a vibrant vision of the sustainable future of the University, one in which teammates are supported through peaks and troughs, emerging stronger and more successful together.