Prabhu surfaces at Morgenthaler

Former Alcatel COO Krish Prabhu has joined Morgenthaler Ventures as a Dallas-based venture partner for the Menlo Park, Calif., firm.

Though Prabhu reportedly was considered a top candidate for CEO jobs at Lucent Technologies, Nortel Networks and other vendors, Morgenthaler general partner Gary Morgenthaler said he began wooing Prabhu back in January, several months before he left Alcatel. Prabhu was on the board of directors of Morgenthaler-funded Yotta Networks.

Later, when Prabhu was considering leaving Alcatel in June, the budding relationship “crystallized,” and Morgenthaler asked Prabhu to consider becoming CEO for one of the firm’s funded start-ups, said Morgenthaler.

Prabhu declined this opportunity, but wanted to come aboard Morgenthaler as a venture partner.

“I left Alcatel to spend more time with my family and to get a more balanced perspective on my life,” said Prabhu. “The VC world offers a lot of possibilities to work with different teams that have different chemistries and backgrounds. This is something you can’t get working for a big company.”

Also, Prabhu said that, at 46, his mix of “dynamism and experience is optimum” for helping young companies address their growing pains. He said he will not rule out returning to the day-to-day management grind someday as a CEO but plans for his migration to the VC world to last at least a few years.

Morgenthaler said the addition of an experienced executive in several ways.

“Krish is someone who will add stature to our firm and our ability to recruit new investments and add value to our portfolio through his experience as a successful executive.”

In addition, Morgenthaler said the implication with this announcement is that “at a time when other VC firms are backing away from telecom, it is safe to say we are recruiting for new opportunities and upping the ante in this market.”