The Fathers of the Venture Capital Industry

[ADMIN]

What we think of as Venture Capital today is a pretty young profession. "Modern" VC firms first came into existence in the 1960s, started by the likes of Bill Draper, Pitch Johnson and Reid Dennis. These visionaries shaped the technology industry, and lay the groundwork for everything that we VCs do today.

My friend Paul Holland and the folks at Foundation Capital have produced a new documentary that tells the story of the early days of the venture business. The film is called "More than Money: The Untold Tale of Risk, Reward and the Original Venture Capitalists." Those original VCs chronicled in the documentary are Tom Perkins, Don Valentine, Arthur Rock, Bill Draper, Dick Kramlich, Reid Dennis, Pitch Johnson, Bill Edwards and Bill Bowes. They were the guys behind Apple, Intel, Cisco, Genetech, Atari, Tandem, and many others.

The film is a great history lesson -- not just on the venture business, but also on the tech industry and Silicon Valley. If anyone is interested in getting an early peek at the film, WAVC (the Western Association of Venture Capitalists) is holding an advanced screening of the documentary at 6pm on March 25th at the Computer History Museum. A number of the amazing men profiled in the movie will also be at the screening and reception. So if you'd like to learn more about the birth of the venture business, click here and buy tickets to this great event.



More...