SiliconBeat

It’s official: Marc Bodnick, co-founder of the investment fund Elevation Partners, has left to join Quora, one of Silicon Valley’s hottest start-ups.

In a press release issued late Thursday night, the Elevation said:

“Elevation Partners, a private equity firm focused on large-scale investments in market leading consumer and technology businesses, announced today that Managing Director Marc Bodnick has resigned from the firm to pursue interests outside of Elevation Partners. Mr. Bodnick’s responsibilities will be assumed by Elevation’s other managing directors.

“Marc has made the decision to leave Elevation to pursue new opportunities,” said Roger McNamee,
Managing Director and Co-Founder of Elevation Partners. “Over the years, Marc has made many
contributions to the firm, and he leaves behind a healthy portfolio from Elevation’s first fund. We wish Marc continued success in the future.” “

Word began leaking out earlier this week about Bodnick’s departure from the firm that was started by McNamee and U2’s Bono, among others. Just a couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to interview Bodnick, whose reputation was on the rise thanks to his role in getting Elevation to invest in Facebook and Yelp:

“Perhaps no investor had more reason to cheer the deal that valued Facebook at $50 billion this week than Elevation Partners. Just one year ago, the conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley was that the high-profile investment fund, co-founded by Bono of U2, looked like a bust thanks to a bet on Palm that appeared to be a disaster.

But the success of its big investment in Facebook, and a smaller one in Yelp, have raised its standing in the valley and put the spotlight on Elevation partner and co-founder Marc Bodnick, 41, who played a critical role in landing both.”

Among the people I interviewed for the profile was McNamee, who was very complimentary about Bodnick’s role in the firm, those social media investments, and his general tech vision. However, according to the Daily Beast’s Dan Lyons, some at Elevation were less than pleased with the story I wrote and its focus on Bodnick:

“…an insider, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Bodnick had exaggerated his contribution to Elevation’s success.

They’re especially miffed by a recent profile of Bodnick in the San Jose Mercury News in which Bodnick got a lot of credit—too much, the Elevation insider says—for Elevation’s successful investment in Facebook.

“Marc is a great guy. He’s a friend. But if you look at Marc’s background and hold that up to the rest of the group, well, he’s an equal partner, but if you’re going to lose somebody he’s probably the least damaging one to lose,” the insider said.”

It’s unclear whether Bodnick and Elevation have settled all outstanding issues related to Bodnick’s departure. Among the questions to be determined: How much of Bodnick’s share of the fund and its return will he be allowed to keep? What happens to his board seat at Yelp?

And most important: Will this have an impact on any plans Elevation has to raise a second fund? When I spoke to Bodnick earlier this month, he indicated signs seemed favorable to raise a second fund, despite the fact that Elevation investors had refused to give the partners more time to invest the first fund. They were apparently unhappy over its performance on investments in Palm (which managed to post a good but not great return) and Forbes (which has not done so hot).

But Facebook’s soaring valuation seems to have the first fund poised to post a healthy return. And as McNamee said when we talked, this serves as a reminder why it’s dangerous to pass judgment on any fund before it’s all said and done. At the time, McNamee said he’s be “surprised” if Elevation didn’t raise a second fund, and noted that the firm had brought on two new partners last year, presumably laying the groundwork for a second fund.

As for Bodnick, his move to Quora, a question and answer site launched last year by some former Facebook employees, puts him in the middle of a fast-growing new segment of the social media world. Bodnick has been a poweruser of the site since it launched.

On Friday morning, Bodnick responded to the question: “How was Marc Bodnick recruited to Quora?”

Bodnick wrote:

“Meeting the founders and using the product were the first steps in my growing interest in the company. I knew Charlie Cheever and Adam D’Angelo through mutual friends. I’ve been an active Quora user since October 2009, a time when there were only a few hundred users. I got onto the site after running into Charlie and Rebekah Cox, Quora’s lead product designer and first employee, at a birthday party in Palo Alto and bugging them for a beta invitation.

In October, Charlie invited me into the beta and I became immediately addicted. I have an eclectic set of interests, and I spent a ton of time on non-technical topics -> U.S. Politics, Movies, Children’s Books, Crossword Puzzles. In 2009-10, my kids and I were in the middle of reading Harry Potter, and I ended up writing dozens of questions about the books as I read each one. Then I did the same thing for the Matrix movies, Iron Man 2, and Black Swan. (I’m currently plowing throughPercy Jackson, btw.) I wrote way more questions than answers.

In early 2010, Charlie and I started talking about policy on the site, and he asked me if I wanted to get more involved with the company. So I started meeting most Sunday nights with Adam, Charlie, and Rebekah. These were awesome discussions for me. I was like a Madden fan getting to hang out with Bill Walsh to talk about the West Coast offense.

Toward the end of the year, Adam, Charlie and I started talking about the idea of me joining Quora in a more active role. It’s a small company, so I’ll take on a variety of roles including product marketing, community, and business operations. This is a big change since I’ve been an investor my whole life. I start Monday Jan 31 at Quora and it is a super-exciting new adventure for me.”

At the age of 41, Bodnick now becomes the “adult” presence at Quora. While he will have a wide-ranging portfolio, it will inevitably invite some comparisons to his sister-in-law, Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer at Facebook.

Can Quora be turned into a real business? Will Elevation raise a new fund or is this the end of the road? Stay tuned.