Farewell, Walt Robb

With profound sadness, we remember our friend, client, Saratoga Weekend teacher, presenter and frequent attendee, Walt Robb. Chemical engineer, turned intrapreneur and CEO, turned entrepreneur, turned investor, turned mentor-to-countless, Walt was one of a kind. And, with accomplishments too numerous to count: Walt recruited Jack Welch to General Electric, reinvented GE’s medical diagnostic imaging business and led it great success, headed GE’s Global Research Laboratory, was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Clinton, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro (at 69), made the kinds of venture investments of which venture legends are made, supported the work of the Double H Ranch and many others and, in the process, touched and improved the lives of many. In one of his presentations, reflecting on the risk aversion of so many large companies and the entrepreneurship and innovation of so many small ones, Walt said, “As I look back on my career, all of my real successes were because somebody took a risk with me and I took a risk doing something to be different.”

Farewell, Walt.