Maeder was the chair in 2011-2012 of the National Venture Capital Association during the creation and passage of the JOBS Act and currently serves on the SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies. Maeder has been recognized by the prestigious Forbes Midas List as one of the top venture capitalists in the industry and was the 2008 recipient of the Mass Technology Leadership Council Commonwealth Award. Before co-founding Highland in 1988, Maeder spent three years as a general partner at Charles River Ventures, where he concentrated on software investments. He also held operating positions for six years in high-growth technology companies. At Novacor he worked on the development of an implantable artificial heart. Maeder also was responsible for the development of a complex visual field examination instrument at Synemed, where he also headed the company's mechanical engineering and software development teams.
Maeder holds a BSE in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton, an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.