Matthew Howard is a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst at Norwest Venture Partners who uses his military background to assess defense and intelligence founders, emphasizing that veterans have unique insights from being on the front line with deeper understanding of mission-critical problems. As a long-tenured Norwest leader focused on enterprise infrastructure, security, cloud, and data, he brings a founder-like builder orientation to board work, often joining early and staying through scale and IPO while emphasizing team-building and leadership development as core to value creation.

• Heavy focus on enterprise cybersecurity and the shift toward zero-trust architectures. He frequently highlights companies that solve complex protection issues, such as MobileIron's work on passwordless authentication and Aporeto's approach to securing network layers in a corporate environment.
• Strong interest in data infrastructure and the operational side of artificial intelligence. He tracks how businesses handle massive datasets, evidenced by his repeated mentions of InfluxDB's ability to manage time-series data for major clients like Hulu and Algorithmia's role in enterprise machine learning adoption.
• Enthusiasm for next-generation connectivity and wireless networking. He views advancements in private 5G and CBRS technology as pivotal shifts comparable to the invention of WiFi, specifically pointing to the innovations coming out of portfolio company Celona.
• Investment in modernizing supply chain logistics through robotics and automation. He actively follows the intersection of physical fulfillment and AI, frequently showcasing the success of 6 River Systems and their collaborative robots prior to and following their acquisition by Shopify.
• deeply supportive of portfolio exits and founder milestones. He uses his platform to validate the long-term journey of his founders, often writing personal congratulations and sharing acquisition news, such as Mist Systems joining Juniper Networks or the Aporeto team joining Palo Alto Networks.