<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:399px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5138f2fb6bb3f7e910000004-930-699/jared-fliesler-matrix-partners.jpg?maxX=399&amp;maxY=300" border="0" alt="Jared Fliesler, Matrix Partners" width="399" height="300" /></div><keyword id="136057" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Matrix-Partners">Matrix Partners</keyword><keyword id="1760131" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Jared-Fliesler">Jared Fliesler</keyword>, Matrix Partners</div><keyword id="688028" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Square">Square</keyword> executive Jared Fliesler confirmed today that he's leaving the payments company and becoming a venture capitalist, as Business Insider <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/square-jared-fliesler-2013-2">first reported last month</a>.
He's joining Matrix Partners as the firm's eighth investment partner—and at 28, the youngest.
He's the third Square executive to leave to become a venture capitalist in eight months—a coincidence, he told Business Insider, but one that might speak to the personality of people attracted to a fast-growing company in its early stages. Megan Quinn, Square's director of product, joined Kleiner Perkins last year.
And Keith Rabois, whom Fliesler worked with closely at Slide before its sale to Google, is joining Khosla Ventures this month.
Fliesler said his departure had no connection with Rabois's; as we reported, Fliesler announced he was leaving before Rabois revealed he was resigning from Square after he'd been threatened with a harassment lawsuit by a Square employee with whom he'd had a personal relationship. (Rabois and the company deny the claims, and no actual lawsuit has been filed.) 
Fliesler shared with Business Insider the text of a blog post about why he's becoming a venture capitalist. In it, he says that he thinks he can replicate the experience of being hands-on at a startup—but with more companies. Here it is:
I think it’s hard for ambitious entrepreneurs to ever really be content. As soon as they hit a milestone or goal, they tend to just move the goal line out and think about what more they could do (a temporal nature my team has always found entertaining about goals we set). It’s important that we pause to celebrate the success of hitting the goal, but then it’s time to get back to work on the next big milestone we can accomplish.
I’m constantly pushing and questioning myself to make sure I’m both on the right path and working towards the highest impact goals. I’ve been unbelievably fortunate and lucky to have the opportunities I have had and people around me that believe in me and help open doors.
As I considered and spoke with people about what might be next over the last few months, I received a number of questions that largely boil down to the following: Square’s an incredible place with wonderful people and they’re truly trying to change the world (which I love), so why would I even think of leaving? And if I did leave, why would I go into venture? To answer these, I go back to my time at Slide and Google. If I think about what I’ve loved most in my career, it’s working in really small teams towards some audacious goal where we’re all sleeping, eating, bleeding, and breathing what we’re trying to do. I experienced this every day for the first few years at Slide and tried, as much as possible, to maintain that culture when we joined Google. Though I really liked my role as Director of Product at Google, it was hard to truly recreate the start-up vibe within a larger company. My original plan after Google was to go start a company; either from my own idea or by joining a small founding team. At the time, I was an advisor at Square and could see the company’s explosive growth and potential. So when my former boss came to me with the opportunity to run growth at Square, I had to say yes and I put my plans of starting a company on hold. I joined Square to figure out the big growth levers, build a team and foundation that would enable Square to scale around the world, and establish the right distribution and marketing channels to make sure that we controlled our destiny. By late-2012, it felt like we were well on our way to accomplishing these goals. We were moving to a scaling and optimizing rhythm and many of the challenges ahead were around continuing to iterate and optimize. We also hit an inflection point where we went from looking for an endless number of new channels to spend capital efficiently for customer acquisition to having an abundance of channels established and optimizing for payback. My team had grown from a small group to more than 70 people and the year ahead was about doubling that team and continuing to operate at a consistent cadence. At that point, I started seriously consider what was next and how to get back to what I enjoy most, working with a small team to solve core challenges at the whiteboard. I met the Matrix team about a year ago at an event they hosted and casually stayed in touch. Over the last 6 months, the conversation shifted from a casual one to figuring out how we could potentially work together. I don’t think any of us knew in what capacity “working together” would ultimately manifest itself, but it was clear that there was a fit. Like most entrepreneurs, I had previously given some thought to working in venture, but resolved that it was something I’d do later in life. I continued the thought process around my path forward and, in parallel, spent more time with the Matrix team learning about the firm and what it actually meant to work in venture with them. One of the biggest realizations I had was that no (successful) company was going to stay in my favorite part of the growth stage: going from “this looks like it’s working in a few tests cases” to “wow, this actually can work at scale.” At some point, successful companies reach scale and then you’re optimizing the curve vs. setting it. In addition to wanting to work in this necessarily finite stage of a company, I’ve been spoiled by massive scale and I was looking for something BIG. The truth is that if I had an idea that I couldn’t stop thinking about, I’d probably give into my builder mentality and start a company. What might be even better though, is finding a way to work with a number of companies that are in this stage. Investors should work for their portfolio companies. They should partner with them on the hardest problems and help them, against all odds, succeed at astronomical levels. As I learned more about Matrix, it felt like there was a match. They’re hands on and work with a small number of companies to truly change the trajectory of those businesses. I’m not joining Matrix to write checks and walk away. I plan to invest in a small number of companies and to be highly involved during the early stages, effectively working at each of the companies in which I invest. My investment strategy will mainly focus on identifying incredible entrepreneurs that are trying to change the world and specific companies where I’m uniquely suited to help them do that. I’ll start by investing in companies I’d consider going to work for and I hope that people will only take my investment if they would consider hiring me. If both of these aren’t true, I’m not the best investor for that company. VCs have a unique vantage point. They see both the good and bad decisions that each of their portfolio companies make and can leverage this information to help each succeed (and hopefully make fewer mistakes). I often leveraged our investors for insights as I made growth decisions for my previous companies, but I wish I had one that was in the weeds with me in the earliest stages of building our growth strategy. I want to be that person for the companies in which I invest. Over time, each company will go through their own growth cycle and move from setting to optimizing the curve and I hope I can help them to navigate through these early, and often treacherous, waters of growing their business. If I can play a key role in helping multiple companies grow, scale, and ultimately succeed I’ll be happy. - Jared

Why This 28-Year-Old Executive Left Square To Become A Venture Capitalist

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:403px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/512bd56beab8eae212000008-632-470/jared-fliesler.png?maxX=403&amp;maxY=300" border="0" alt="Jared Fliesler" width="403" height="300" /></div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRlkvJYTUeQ">Beet.tv</a><keyword id="1760131" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Jared-Fliesler">Jared Fliesler</keyword></div>Jared Fliesler, <keyword id="688028" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Square">Square</keyword>'s vice president of user acquisition and business operations, has left the mobile-payments company, several people have confirmed to Business Insider.
Fliesler recently told us that he planned to take some time off.
A source tells us that he's taking a job in venture capital.
Fliesler didn't respond to a request to elaborate on his plans.
Square was recently rocked by the surprise resignation of its chief operating officer, <keyword id="1538502" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Keith-Rabois">Keith Rabois</keyword>, who <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wsj-square-coo-resigned-after-sexual-harassment-claim-rabois-denies-allegations-2013-1">left after a sexual-harassment allegation</a>, which he and the company deny. Rabois and Fliesler worked closely together at Slide, a social-apps maker acquired by Google in 2010. Rabois joined Square that year, with Fliesler joining Square a year later.
But we understand that Fliesler had announced his departure before news broke internally about Rabois's resignation.
Square CFO Sarah Friar became acting COO in the wake of Rabois's departure.
Square is growing quickly, expecting to double its headcount to 1,000 by the end of this year.
But it has seen considerable turnover in its customer-support operations over the years, and departures of notable members of its management team recently, including Megan Quinn and Keith Rabois.
Update: An earlier version of this story said Square had seen turnover on its risk team. While it has lost some executives who oversaw the risk team, including Fliesler, Quinn, and Rabois, the team itself hasn't undergone substantial turnover.

Another Top Executive Has Left Square

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56c7616d2e52651d008b84ea-1060-795/screen shot 2016-01-21 at 12.28.14.png" alt="Tim Cook" data-mce-source="CBS / 60 Minutes / YouTube" data-mce-caption="Apple CEO Tim Cook" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQebmygKq7A" /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQebmygKq7A">CBS / 60 Minutes / YouTube</a>Apple CEO Tim Cook</div></div></div>One day after Georgia Governor Nathan Deal <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-ceo-won-his-georgia-showdown-2016-3">agreed to veto a bill</a> that critics said would have encouraged discrimination against gay people, a similar fight in North Carolina has ramped up. On Tuesday, over 80 CEOs and business leaders signed an open letter asking North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory to repeal a controversial law <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-nc-lawmakers-return-to-address-transgender-bathroom-measure-2016-3">passed last week.</a>Signatures included Apple CEO Tim Cook, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and, naturally, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who has been the Silicon Valley point-person speaking out against state-level laws that negatively impact the LGBT community.The law, which was passed by North Carolina's legislature in a one-day session and immediately signed into law by the governor, has been called <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nc-ag-wont-defend-controversial-transgender-law-2016-3">a "national embarrassment"</a> by North Carolina's attorney general. The law was in reaction to a regulation passed by the city of Charlotte that allowed transgender people to use bathrooms based on their gender identity. The new state law requires people to use the bathrooms based on their biological sex.But it goes beyond regulating bathroom use and prevents local governments from passing regulations that eliminate discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity, according to a lawsuit <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/28/472164084/aclu-sues-over-north-carolinas-law-blocking-anti-discrimination-legislation">that's already been filed by the ACLU</a>.The business community, particularly the tech community, and Hollywood are up in arms about the law.Here's the letter:Dear Governor McCrory,We write with concerns about legislation you signed into law last week, HB 2, which has overturned protections for LGBT people and sanctioned discrimination across North Carolina. Put simply, HB 2 is not a bill that reflects the values of our companies, of our country, or even the overwhelming majority of North Carolinians.We are disappointed in your decision to sign this discriminatory legislation into law. The business community, by and large, has consistently communicated to lawmakers at every level that such laws are bad for our employees and bad for business. This is not a direction in which states move when they are seeking to provide successful, thriving hubs for business and economic development. We believe that HB 2 will make it far more challenging for businesses across the state to recruit and retain the nation's best and brightest workers and attract the most talented students from across the nation. It will also diminish the state's draw as a destination for tourism, new businesses, and economic activity.Discrimination is wrong and we believe it has no place in North Carolina or anywhere in our country. As companies that pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming to all, we strongly urge you and the leadership of North Carolina's legislature to repeal this law in the upcoming legislative session.Sincerely, Karen Appleton, Senior Vice President, Box Brandee Barker, Cofounder, The Pramana Collective Marc Benioff, CEO, Salesforce Chip Bergh, President and CEO, Levi Strauss &amp; Co. Michael Birch, Founder, Blab Ed Black, President and CEO, Computer &amp; Communications Industry Association Nathan Blecharczyk, Cofounder and CTO, Airbnb Steven R. Boal, CEO, Quotient Technology Inc. Lorna Borenstein, CEO, Grokker Brad Brinegar, Chairman and CEO, McKinney Lloyd Carney, CEO, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. Brian Chesky, CEO, Airbnb Ron Conway, Founder and Co-Managing Partner, SV Angel Tim Cook, CEO, Apple Dean Debnam, Chairman and CEO, Workplace Options Jack Dorsey, CEO, Square and Twitter David Ebersman, Cofounder and CEO, Lyra Health Jared Fliesler, General Partner, Matrix Partners Joe Gebbia, Cofounder and Chief Product Officer, Airbnb Jason Goldberg, CEO, Pepo Alan King, President and COO, Workplace Options Kristen Koh Goldstein, CEO, BackOps Mitchell Gold, co-founder and chair-man, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams John H. Graham IV, President and CEO, American Society of Association Executives Logan Green, CEO, Lyft Paul Graham, Founder, Y Combinator David Hassell, CEO, 15Five Charles H. Hill III, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Human Resources, Pfizer Inc. Reid Hoffman, Chairman, LinkedIn Robert Hohman, Cofounder &amp; CEO, Glassdoor Drew Houston, CEO, Dropbox Chad Hurley, Cofounder, YouTube Dave Imre, Partner and CEO, IMRE Dev Ittycheria, President &amp; CEO, MongoDB Laurene Powell Jobs, President, Emerson Collective Cecily Joseph, VP Corporate Responsibility and Chief Diversity Officer, Symantec Corporation David Karp, Founder and CEO, Tumblr Travis Katz, Founder and CEO, Gogobot Brian Krzanich, CEO, Intel Joshua Kushner, Managing Partner, Thrive Capital Max Levchin, CEO, Affirm Dion Lim, CEO, NextLesson Shan-lyn Ma, CEO, Zola Marissa Mayer, President and CEO, Yahoo Melody McCloskey, CEO, StyleSeat Douglas Merrill, CEO, Zestfinance Dyke Messinger, President and CEO, Power Curbers Inc. Hari Nair, Vice President and General Manager, Orbitz.com &amp; CheapTickets.com Michael Natenshon, CEO, Marine Layer Alexi G. Nazem, Cofounder and CEO, Nomad Health Laurie J. Olson, EVP, Strategy, Portfolio and Commercial Operations, Pfizer Inc. Bob Page, Founder and CEO, Replacements, Ltd. Michelle Peluso, Strategic Advisor and former CEO, Gilt Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google Mark Pincus, Founder and Executive Chairman, Zynga Hosain Rahman, CEO, Jawbone Bill Ready, CEO, Braintree Evan Reece, CEO, Liftopia Stan Reiss, General Partner, Matrix Partners John Replogle, CEO, Seventh Generation Virginia M. Rometty, Chairman, President and CEO, IBM Corporation Dan Rosensweig, CEO, Chegg Kevin P. Ryan, Founder and Chairman, Alleycorp Bijan Sabet, General Partner, Spark Capital Julie Samuels, President, Engine George A. Scangos, PhD, CEO, Biogen Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal Adam Shankman, Director and Producer Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, Consumer Technology Association David A. Shaywitz, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, DNAnexus Ben Silbermann, CEO, Pinterest Brad Smith, President and Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft Arne Sorenson, President and CEO, Marriott International David Spector, Cofounder, ThirdLove Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO, Yelp Bret Taylor, CEO, Quip Todd Thibodeaux, CEO, CompTIA David Tisch, Managing Partner, BoxGroup Nirav Tolia, Cofounder and CEO, Nextdoor Kevin A. Trapani, President and CEO, The Redwood Groups Ken Wasch, President, Software &amp; Information Industry Association Bob &amp; Harvey Weinstein, Co-Founders and Co-Chairmen, The Weinstein Company Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Facebook <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-bergen-terrorists-reasons-isis-brussels-2016-3">Terrorism expert reveals 4 key reasons people become violent extremists</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="E3eW5hMjE6SgUisggnJ72OAAAoK05LjG" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'E3eW5hMjE6SgUisggnJ72OAAAoK05LjG',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

You Searched For "Jared Fliesler" and got 3 results

Why This 28-Year-Old Executive Left Square To Become A Venture Capitalist

Owen Thomas

Another Top Executive Has Left Square

Owen Thomas

Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Ginni Rometty, others are asking North Carolina to repeal its 'discriminatory' law

Julie Bort