Sandy Lerner

Sandy Lerner managed the computer systems at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in the early 1980s. With graduate degrees in computer science and statistics from Stanford, Lerner brought both technical depth and business acumen to Cisco's founding. She served as the company's first chief financial officer and later vice president of customer service, building Cisco's early customer relationships and operational infrastructure. After her departure from Cisco, Lerner became known for founding Urban Decay cosmetics and for her extensive philanthropic work in animal welfare and historic preservation.

Sandy Lerner co-founded Cisco Systems in December 1984 with her then-husband Leonard Bosack, driven by the practical need to connect Stanford University's incompatible computer networks. Lerner's role at Cisco extended far beyond co-founding — she built the company's customer service organization, managed its finances during the bootstrapped early years, and established the customer-centric culture that helped Cisco win its first enterprise accounts. Her ability to translate complex networking technology into business value propositions proved essential in convincing early customers to trust their critical infrastructure to an unproven startup. However, Lerner's management style clashed with the professional executives brought in by venture capitalist Don Valentine after Sequoia Capital's 1987 investment. In 1990, shortly after Cisco's IPO, Lerner was fired by CEO John Morgridge. She and Bosack sold their combined Cisco stake for approximately $170 million. Lerner subsequently founded Urban Decay cosmetics (sold to LVMH for $350 million in 2012) and purchased Aston Farm in England, where she raises rare-breed livestock and maintains a working Elizabethan-era estate.