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Matt Nordby ('01) - Fall 2026 Lowder EIR
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Matt Nordby |
Matt Nordby founded Flume Ventures with the backing of some of Silicon Valley's most influential leaders. Together, they built a strong network of industry experts dedicated to fostering innovation through their venture fund. He has invested in notable companies such as X, xAI (acquired by SpaceX), Discord, 1Password, and other groundbreaking innovations. His work at Flume has been featured in Bloomberg, CNBC, New York Post, Yahoo and The Information, and Matt has been recognized for inspiring a wave of entrepreneurship in Nevada.
Matt began his career at Sun Microsystems, where he rapidly rose to a leadership role. He was promoted to oversee a $200M business unit at 24 years old, which became one of Sun Microsystems' top-performing divisions. Sun is widely known for creating the JAVA programming language and advancing modern computing.
He was also an early team member at Greenplum, a data analytics startup backed by Sun, SAP, and major venture capital firms. Greenplum was acquired by Dell (NYSE: DELL) (formerly EMC) for over $400M during the peak of the "big data era" and was later renamed Pivotal. This technology continues to serve as a foundational element for Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), following a series of acquisitions.
Matt left the technology industry and was named President of Playboy Enterprises after its transition to private ownership. Under his leadership, Playboy experienced significant global growth, becoming one of the top 50 licensed brands worldwide and generating $1.5 billion annually through licensing agreements.
In addition to his accomplishments in technology, media, and entertainment, Matt has served on the boards of several leading consumer brands, including Local Bounti (NYSE: LOCL) John Varvatos, AllSaints, Paige, and True Food Kitchen.
An Auburn University graduate (2001), Matt is a member of the Investment Committee for the New Venture Accelerator and actively supports entrepreneurship both at Auburn and through Flume's innovation pledge to create technology jobs in Nevada. After living in Chicago, New York City, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles, he now resides in Incline Village, Nevada (Lake Tahoe), with his wife and their two children.
The Robert and Charlotte Lowder Visiting Executive-in-Residence Program
This program became a reality through the generous endowment of Robert and Charlotte Lowder. Mr. Lowder is a 1964 graduate of the College of Business. A longtime supporter of Auburn University, he currently serves on the board of trustees.
The Robert and Charlotte Lowder Visiting Executive-in-Residence Program provides students and faculty with an opportunity to interact with prominent executives for an open exchange of views on current issues. Through this vital program, executives are brought into the classroom to offer students first-hand information about the complexities of the business world, while giving them the inspiration they need to seek new ways to meet the challenges of tomorrow.