Stanford interview
Conway gives an on-stage interview for the Graduate School of Business. Among other topics, he talks about spotting Google early on:
Investors didn’t get it, they said isn’t this like the rest of them? And we said, No, this is relevant, it gives relevant results
On succeeding in tech as a non-technical person:
Every step of the way, because I’m not an engineer, I’ve always made sure for every fund there’s a very technical person we can turn to…If you’re not technical you can be [the business] person
Disrupt panel
Conway, Sacca, and McClure are interviewed by Arrington about the Angelgate controversy at the Tech Crunch event. Sacca says it was a ‘misunderstanding’ that is ‘worth getting past’. Arrington:
We are not going to have a Jerry Springer moment here?
Sacca responds
Sacca replies to Conway:
I am having a hard time resolving the person I quite literally grew up with in this business, with the person who sent the email to which I am replying. Your anger and personal accusations hurt, and it is clear they are intended to
Clarifies Angelgate email
Conway clarifies that Lee was at the dinner by mutual decision:
David Lee, my partner at SV Angel did not want to go the Bin 38 dinner. We talked and then agreed that he should go.
Angelgate email
0 CommentsTech Crunch reports an email sent by Conway to the group of investors who met at Bin 38. Extract:
I wish the Angel community could have the same integrity and values of the entrepenuer community, but unfortunately I now believe that is hopeless and your actions prove that.
What do you think the entrepenuers you have funded are thinking right now.
This is despicable and embarrassing for the tech community in my opinion.
Can you learn from this?
Adds $10m to SV Angel
Conway is reported to raise the money from outside investors to add to deal volume. He is already planning to put his own money into 30 startups in 2010.
San Francisco Business Times feature
0 CommentsThe newspaper covers Conway’s investments in companies like Twitter, as he favours products that can publish in real time, as well as instant communication platforms using various media and tools like geolocation. Investments typically average between $100,000 and $150,000, and sometimes as low as $50,000. Conway:
I’m in 50 companies today that nobody’s heard the name. One of these companies I’m in today will definitely have a $5 billion market capitalization in three years.
Intuit buys Mint.com
0 CommentsIntuit is reported to pay around $170 million for the Angel Investors company, compared with Mint’s most recent valuation at $140 million. Mint confirms the deal value and says it has 1.5 million users, found over $300 million in savings, managed $50 billion in assets, and helped people track nearly $200 billion in purchases.
Cloud computing interview
Conway talks to Ideas Project about cloud computing:
Probably the most disruptive technology that’s just starting to blossom today
He says things like Google Apps allowing MS Office to run in the cloud were talked about for decades:
Now you have storage in the cloud, so the notion of all you need, a computer that has conductivity to a browser, that’s really all you need…we were talking about this for 20 years and literally with the advent of Google apps and storage in the ether it’s become a reality
Amazon, Zappos deal
0 CommentsThe deal for the shoe provider is worth $1.2 billion at closing. Angel Investors’ stake isn’t disclosed.
Stanford interview
Conway says Silicon Valley’s ecosystem of lawyers, bankers, attorneys and investors means no other location can match it:
Not even close
Snocap sold
0 0 reuben reuben2014-10-19 18:32:442014-10-19 18:32:44Snocap soldZynga Series A
SV Angel is reported to join the round with Union Square Ventures, Pilot Group, Avalon Ventures, and individual investors, for a total of $10 million.
Seesmic Series A
Arrington and Conway are among angel investors who provide the video aggregator with $6 million Series A funding. Arrington:
The service, which can most easily be described as a video Twitter, is popular with the 300 people who are beta testing it so far. Le Meur says that more than half of them are extremely active, and 200 videos are being posted daily.
Invests in Twitter
Twitter announces a round led by Union Square Ventures and including Conway, Andreessen, and others. It doesn’t disclose the funding amount or valuation. Twitter:
Twitter has had such an awesome start and now we’re even more excited to keep up the momentum. We’re very much looking forward to building a strong and sustainable company.
Reached out to Conway
Livingston says Y Combinator reached out to Conway in its early stages, but wasn’t able to communicate to him what the firm did.
He said, “Is this in Boston? I stick mainly local.” I replied, “No, we’re in Mountain View and we’d love for you to come to Demo Day.” He said, “Is this a chance to invest in the incubator?” I replied, “No, we don’t want you to invest in us. It’s a chance to invest in the individual startups.” Then he told us he’d circle back, since he was jammed. We got the “am jammed now” from Ronco—it was so embarrassing.
She says Conway did end up coming to Demo Day in 2006, and returned to talk at the next year’s winter event.
Invests in Facebook
0 CommentsInvests in Digg
0 CommentsConway invests personally in the company and via SV Angel. He joins Andreessen and other angel investors, as well as Greylock and Floodgate on the institutional side, for a reported total of $2.8 in the Series A round.
Introduced to Adelson
Andreessen introduces Conway and Adelson via email. Adelson meets Conway at his house:
I remember being really impressed with the questions he was asking. The other thing was Ron’s database in his brain of contacts around Silicon Valley was the most extensive and probably most top-of-mind database of people that I’ve ever run into in my career.
Sells Angel funds
0 CommentsConway is reported to sell the Angel funds to Credit Suisse First Boston. Letter to investors:
Dear Limited Partners of Angel Investors II, L.P. and Angel (Q) Investors II, L.P.:
We are following up the email we sent to you last week regarding the winding up of the fund this year.
We have successfully negotiated and signed a merger agreement with CSFB Strategic Partners II L.P. to sell Angel Investors II, L.P. and Angel (Q) Investors II, L.P. for $900,366.37 and $6,886,231.13, respectively.
The funds have more money that will be distributed to investors from reserves and the sale of securities, as well as $1.4 million of public securities that it will liquidate.