Aaron Skonnard

Aaron Skonnard is an American entrepreneur, developer, author, angel investor, and philanthropist best known as the co-founder and former CEO of Pluralsight, a technology workforce development platform that he led for 20 years. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Skonnard's passion for technology began early when his father brought home an Apple II computer, sparking his interest in coding as a child.

Skonnard graduated from Brigham Young University in 1996 with a degree in Computer Science. After college, he worked at several prominent technology companies including 3M, Intel, and Axiom Technologies, where he honed his technical expertise and teaching skills. During this period, Skonnard became a well-known figure in the developer community, teaching professional developers at DevelopMentor, presenting at major developer conferences like PDC, TechEd, and VSLive!, and earning Microsoft MVP recognition in the "Connected Systems" developer community for eight consecutive years.

As an author, Skonnard contributed extensively to technical literature, writing popular columns for MSDN Magazine and co-authoring several influential books including Essential XML Quick Reference (Addison Wesley, 2001) and Essential XML (Addison Wesley, 2000). His deep expertise in teaching and developer education would become the foundation for his entrepreneurial journey.

In April 2004, Skonnard co-founded Pluralsight with three colleagues from DevelopMentor—Keith Brown, Fritz Onion, and Bill Williams—to provide online video training courses for software developers, IT administrators, and creative professionals. The company initially focused on classroom training, with Skonnard and his partners traveling globally to conduct weeklong, in-person classes for businesses. In 2007, Pluralsight pivoted exclusively to online video training, a strategic decision that would prove transformative.

Under Skonnard's leadership as CEO, Pluralsight achieved remarkable growth. Beginning in 2012, the company raised over $190 million in venture funding across Series A (2012-2013) and Series B (2014) rounds. Following the Series B, Skonnard announced the company's valuation had soared to nearly $1 billion, up from less than $100 million in 2012. In 2017, Pluralsight became a publicly traded company on NASDAQ, with shares opening at $15 and closing the first day at $20, giving the company a market capitalization exceeding $2.5 billion. In 2021, Vista Equity Partners acquired Pluralsight for $3.8 billion and merged it with A Cloud Guru, marking a successful exit for investors and stakeholders.

Skonnard stepped down as CEO of Pluralsight in April 2024 after two decades of leadership. He continues to serve as Special Advisor to the Board and CEO on the Pluralsight One Advisory Board. Beyond his corporate role, Skonnard is deeply committed to social impact. In 2017, he and his wife Monica launched Pluralsight One, a social impact initiative funded by donating 1% of the company's equity to equip nonprofit organizations with technology skills to strengthen their communities. He is also a founding board member of Silicon Slopes, the nonprofit empowering Utah's startup and tech community, and in 2015, he helped launch the Start Foundation as its chairman, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to improving Utah's tech industry.

Skonnard's achievements have earned him numerous accolades, including the 2013 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, 2015 and 2016 Utah CEO of the Year honors, MountainWest Capital's 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year, and induction into the Utah Technology Council Hall of Fame in 2017. He currently serves as an independent director of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (since 2019), where he is a member of the Compensation Committee and the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee.

As an angel investor, Aaron Skonnard focuses on early-stage technology companies, particularly those based in Utah's thriving Silicon Slopes ecosystem. His investment philosophy centers on backing founders building transformative technology solutions with strong social impact potential. Drawing from his two decades of experience scaling Pluralsight from a classroom training business to a publicly traded unicorn, Skonnard brings operational expertise, strategic guidance, and extensive networks to his portfolio companies.

Investment Approach:

What He Looks For:

• Stage Focus: Seed and Pre-Seed rounds
• Check Size: Typically $5K - $50K, with a sweet spot around $25K
• Geography: Primarily United States, with emphasis on Utah-based startups
• Sector Preferences: Enterprise software, SaaS, EdTech, AI/ML, and B2B technology platforms
• Value-Add: Provides mentorship on scaling businesses, fundraising strategy, product development, and go-to-market execution; often takes board or advisory positions in select investments
• Founders with deep domain expertise and passion for their mission
• Technology solutions addressing significant market opportunities
• Companies with potential for social impact and improving access to opportunity
• Scalable business models with clear paths to recurring revenue
• Teams committed to building sustainable, long-term value