HANK BARRY is chair of Sidley’s Emerging Companies and Venture Capital practice and a founder of the firm’s Palo Alto office. Prior to joining Sidley, Hank was a managing director at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners in San Francisco. From 2000 to 2002, he served as CEO and a Board member of Napster, Inc.
Hank has advised many technology companies as a lawyer, investor and director. These include several companies in which he was primary outside counsel from formation through IPO and/or acquisition.
Hank is a frequent speaker at industry conferences on topics related to emerging growth companies and has been a guest lecturer at Stanford’s Program in Law, Science & Technology and the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology. He has testified twice before the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate with respect to technology and intellectual property policy.
Hank is consistently recognized as a leading practitioner in his field by various publications including: Who’s Who Legal (2016) in the area of Telecommunications Media & Technology; The Legal 500 US and The Best Lawyers in America, who named him San Jose Lawyer of the Year in 2016, 2018 and 2020 for Technology Law.
Hank has been a member of the board of directors of KQED, the Bay area’s public media service, since 2014. He served as board chair from 2018-2020.