Walter A. Winshall has been a private investor in a large number of companies seeking to commercialize new technology. He has been engaged in this activity continuously since 1970, except for the period of 1975-1995, when he was a principal and held various management roles in a software company that provided information products and services for libraries. The company, SilverPlatter International, NV, was acquired by the Dutch publishing company Wolters Kluwer in 2001. He graduated from MIT in electrical engineering and from the Harvard Law School.