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John Mucci, co-founder of the recently closed high-performance computing company SiCortex Inc. of Maynard, died yesterday of an apparent heart attack, according to colleagues and news reports.
Former SiCortex director of software and former Mass High Tech All-Star G. Winfield Treese said that he was hired right at the start of SiCortex and remembers Mucci fondly. “John was one of the best CEOs I have ever worked for,” said Treese, who is now principal with Serissa Research Inc. in Wayland. “One of the terrific things he did at SiCortex was that he was terrific at assembling the best people. He had a tremendous ability to read people and pick the best ones that would be a part of a team.”
Mucci co-founded SiCortex in July 2002 along with Matt Reilly and Judson Leonard. Founding investors included Albert DaValle, Jr. of JK&B Capital, Bill Seifert of Prism VentureWorks and Bob Metcalfe of Polaris Venture Partners LP. The company originally opened a Series B round in 2006 and closed it in September 2008, raising $37 million. At that time, officials said they hoped the Series B round would be enough to bring it to profitability, but it did not rule out raising more funds.
Mucci had a long history in technology companies, according to the still-functioning SiCortex website. Prior to co-founding SiCortex, he held several executive roles at Thinking Machines Corp. Prior to Thinking Machines, Mucci held a number of senior executive positions at Digital Equipment Corp. Following his tenure at Thinking Machines, Mucci co-founded two startups — Continuum Software Inc. and SiCortex.
According to Treese, Mucci brought a rare and much-needed level of attention to the needs of the end user to SiCortex. “He was also relentlessly focused on the customers and he loved the customers more than I think I’ve ever seen anyone,” Treese said.
According to Treese, after SiCortex closed its doors in May of last year, Mucci had been working with a number of former SiCortex people to launch another high performance computing company, in an effort that did not take off. Most recently, Treese said, Mucci had been in talks to possibly join a company Treese declined to name.
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