Dennis Murphree

Dennis Murphree is the CEO of Murphree and Company Inc. (commercial real estate development); the Managing Partner of Murphree Venture Partners (seven venture capital funds); The Southern Funds Group (venture capital and private equity partnerships). He got his BA in Economics from Southern Methodist University and his MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He has been an entrepreneur his entire career. Upon graduation from The Wharton School, he entered the real estate industry as a commercial broker in May 1971 and started his own firm, The Murphree Company, in December 1972. By 1985, that firm was the 11th largest commercial real estate developer in the U.S. and did $600 million in new construction that year throughout 13 U.S. cities.

In 1975, Dennis began doing venture capital deals as well, starting with 6 commercial bank start-ups and buy-outs between 1975 and 1980. He was chairman of the board of three of the banks: The Commonwealth Bank (Houston); Vail National Bank (Colorado); and Avon National Bank (Colorado). In 1982, he did his first high tech start-up, Analytical Engines Inc. By 1986, he had done 23 VC deals including the restaurants Cafe Express and Cafe Annie, where he was the largest shareholder for a decade. In late 1986, he sold his real estate operations and began VC work full time in January of 1987. Over the years, his firm has financed 109 portfolio companies through seven institutional venture capital funds and over 25 separate partnerships.