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ILLUSTRATION BY PETER BOLLINGER IN SILICONVALLEY BY BENJAMIN REEVES PLAYERS THESE MEN AND WOMENSTARTUPS, IN ARE INVESTING TO COMES IT WHEN THE TOP 20 IN TECH’S MOST IMPORTANT TOWN. IMPORTANT MOST TECH’S IN INVESTORS THE MOST POWERFUL 5 1 0 2 H C R A - Y R A U R B E F M O C . H T R O W

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By Benjamin Reeves Benjamin By WEST STREET WALL MAKE GROW LIVE LIVE

AN FRANCISCO HAS of San Fran- ALWAYS BEEN A BUT THE MODERN CHAPTER and GROW BANKING CITY,” SAYS cisco’s rise as a financial center started after WWII, his dog Coco when federal funding and university talent created MICHAEL S. MALONE, A a fertile environment for science and engineering LONGTIME SILICON VAL- research. Beginning in the 1950s, new companies PAST MAKE LEY INSIDER, AUTHOR AND INVESTOR. BUT such as Hewlett-Packard needed financing to grow. PROLOGUE THE CULTURAL ROMANCE OF SAN FRAN- “Microchip manufacturing is expensive,” Malone Some of the key figures says, “and the East Coast banks didn’t understand CISCO IS SO POWERFUL—THE BRIDGE, THE and moments behind BAY, THE WRITERS, MUSICIANS, HIPPIES, what these guys were doing.” By the ’60s, Bay Area ’s WEST STREET WALL tech firms “didn’t even think about going east when emergence as a finance GAYS AND ARTISTS—IT’S TENDED TO OVER- they needed money.” and tech center. WHELM THE CENTRAL ROLE OF FINANCE San Francisco is now wedded to , IN SAN FRANCISCO’S HISTORY. AFTER ALL, of course. The major VC firms are strung out along THE CITY GREW OUT OF THE 1849 GOLD in Menlo Park. Some of the most 1925 important of the Valley’s investors—Marc Andrees- RUSH AND BY 1854 WAS HOME TO A U.S. Frederick Terman, sen, —are well-known names from MINT, WHICH WAS FOLLOWED BY THE RISE widely considered coast to coast. But many, operating largely under

a founding father of By Benjamin Reeves OF FINANCIAL PLAYERS LIKE WELLS FARGO the radar of the East Coast financial press, are not. Silicon Valley, begins (1852) AND BANK OF AMERICA (IN ITS EAR- Here, then, are the 20 most influential men and teaching a Stanford LIEST FORM, 1904). women in Bay Area finance. course on electronics that will influence many of the area’s leading figures. Among them: a young engineer named William Hewlett (below); at Terman’s encouragement, Hewlett and his class- mate and friend Dave MARC GREG Packard later form 01 ANDREESSEN 02 BECKER Hewlett-Packard (HP). COFOUNDER AND PARTNER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, Using a rented garage SILICON VALLEY BANK MARC RON JOHN as their workspace, the two create a series of WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: The co- WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: Silicon 03 BENIOFF 04 CONWAY 05 DOERR influential products. founder of , Andrees- Valley Bank is where VCs FOUNDER, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, SPECIAL ADVISOR, SV ANGEL GENERAL PARTNER, KLEINER sen has a background steeped and tech firms deposit their SALESFORCE PERKINS CAUFIELD & BYERS checks, starting on day one. WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: Conway in technology. Andreessen Billion- Since With 22 years at SVB, Becker WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: has invested in and advised WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: founded company aire Beniof’s family has lived 1980, Doerr has been the knows everyone who’s any- a who’s who of tech firms, and then sold it to HP in San Francisco for four gen- guiding hand behind one of one in the Bay Area. Becker including , , before launching his epony- erations. His company, Sales- Silicon Valley’s most lauded and SVB actively seek out Square, and Dropbox. mous VC firm in 2009. The force, is best known for its firms, and he new entrepreneurs and He was also a founder and firm’s capitalization exploded, customer relationship man- backed tech giants including startups, set them up with managing partner of Angel and it has had major exits on agement software, but Be- Google, Symantec, , accounts and connect them Investors LP funds and SV such as , niof has personally invested Twitter and . President with investors. When those Angel, his current home base, which was sold to in in dozens of companies. He Obama appointed Doerr to companies get big, they con- which works like a venture 2011 for $8.5 billion. also wrote the “1/1/1” pledge his Economic Recovery 1958 tinue banking with Becker; capital firm but invests in a whereby participating com- Advisory Board in 2009. William H. Draper Jr., WHAT HE SAYS: Andrees- SVB estimates that it banks greater volume of companies. sen takes a no-nonsense panies (including Salesforce) a venture capitalist for more than 60 percent of WHAT HE SAYS: Conway is WHAT HE SAYS: In a 2007 and former U.S. Army approach. On his blog, he give 1 percent of their equity, the venture capital firms and known to be a vociferous TED talk about green invest- ofcer, founds Draper, has warned startups against profits and time to charity. half of the venture-backed advocate for his investments. ing, Doerr described how Gaither & Anderson “confusing the conference companies in the U.S. WHAT HE SAYS: “We said “I couldn’t care less who is he tackles tough problems: (now Draper Fisher circuit—and especially the we were always going to be “My partners at Kleiner and I WHAT HE SAYS: “The relation- mad at me as long as the Jurvetson) in Palo Alto party scene—with actual about giving back,” Beniof were compulsive networkers, ships are the most impor- entrepreneur comes out with Rand Corpora- work. This also creates a toxic told the Journal in and so when we see a big tant thing” for success in ahead,” he explained to tion cofounder Horace culture on multiple fronts by 2014. “Maybe that’s because problem or an opportunity Silicon Valley, Becker tells Fortune in 2012. Rowan Gaither and re- encouraging alcohol/drugs I’m from San Francisco, but like avian flu or personalized Worth. “Almost everyone tired Air Force general and valuing so-called ‘ballers’ I know that that’s important medicine, we just get to- here is involved in the tech- Frederick Anderson. It over other important, less and I think some of these new gether the smartest people becomes the first VC nology market.” ‘loud’ contributors.” entrepreneurs need to be just we know.” firm founded on the

CONWAY PHOTO: CODY PICKENS;CONWAY HEWLETT PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES reminded of that.” West Coast.

WORTH.COM FEBRUARY-MARCH 2015 045 LIVE NEIL AILEEN DOUG 09 HENNESSY 11 LEE 12 LEONE 1961 Theresia Gouw PORTFOLIO MANAGER AND FOUNDER, COWBOY VENTURES MANAGING PARTNER, 1968 GROW CHIEF OFFICER, SEQUOIA CAPITAL Financiers Tommy WHY SHE’S IMPORTANT: Before HENNESSY FUNDS Investment banker Bill Davis, of San Francisco, launching Cowboy Ven- WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: Ever Hambrecht cofounds and New York-based WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: Hen- tures, Lee, like many other since he joined the company the second of San Arthur Rock (below) nessy launched his own investors in the Bay Area, in 1988 after a long career at Francisco’s quartet MAKE cocreate one of the first broker-dealer firm in 1989, worked for and HP, of boutique invest- of the 1960s venture and then in 1996, an asset Caufield & Byers, but she Leone has been a big reason ment banks known as capital firms, Davis & management firm and his began her career doing M&A why Sequoia is an industry the “four horsemen,”

Rock, with $5 million. first mutual fund. In 2009 work for . giant. He has been instrumen- which provide financial WEST STREET WALL Between 1961 and 1968, Hennessy led an expansion Lee and Cowboy Ventures tal in Sequoia’s investments support to tech firms Davis & Rock invests into Japan. While 70 percent focus on companies that are in LinkedIn and WhatsApp, through the 1990s. $3 million and returns of actively managed funds “reimagining the way we live which Facebook recently Hambrecht & Quist $100 million to its in- miss their benchmarks, Hen- and work,” such as the mail- bought for $19 billion. helps fund some of vestors. It funds nessy breaks the mold: Over order razor company Dollar the industry’s biggest WHAT HE SAYS: “People hate in 1968. After many the last five years, ending Shave Club. names including Apple, years of traveling from July 2014, 70 percent of his to do things because they Adobe and Netscape. the East Coast to Cali- funds beat their benchmarks. WHAT SHE SAYS: “We can view them as risky,” Leone The first of the four fornia, Rock eventually basically do anything,” Lee said at a Stanford business horsemen, and also the decides to move to WHAT HE SAYS: Hennessy calls told a Stanford class on en- school “View from the Top” first investment bank By Benjamin Reeves the Central Valley and himself an economic realist. trepreneurship last August. talk last year. “We actually in the U.S., was Alex. found his own firm, “We are quantitative,” he “We don’t really have best think that if you’re a crystal- Brown & Sons, founded which allows him to explains. “We can’t vary at practices, and we don’t clear thinker, doing nothing is in Baltimore in 1800. play a key role launch- all from the formula.” Con- have legacy kind of tradi- risky … If something is work- ing companies such as sequently, “the client always tions … We really have the ing like a dream, break it.” Apple and Teledyne. knows what’s happening.” chance to do kind of what- 1969 ever we want.” American businessman and investor Tommy REID Davis of Davis & Rock 10 HOFFMAN starts the Mayfield Fund PARTNER, GREYLOCK PARTNERS in the Central Valley, making many invest- WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: Hof- man, one of the top inves- ments in Silicon Valley. The Mayfield Fund’s JACK SAMEER THERESIA tors at Greylock, is also the focus is early-stage tech 06 DORSEY 07 GANDHI 08 GOUW chairman and cofounder of companies, which will COFOUNDER AND CEO, SQUARE PARTNER, ACCEL PARTNERS COFOUNDER AND PARTNER, LinkedIn, making him one of ASPECT VENTURES include Atari, the arcade Dorsey WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: Gandhi the most connected people 1963 WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: game company that launched Square, the joined Accel Partners after WHY SHE’S IMPORTANT: After in the world. Hofman also and Dave kick-started the modern almost 10 years as a partner more than a decade with served as executive vice Packard invite venture groundbreaking mobile pay- era of home gaming. Accel, Gouw, who started her president at PayPal, leading capitalist Tom Perkins ments company, in 2009. He at heavyweight firm Sequoia career as a consultant at Bain the company’s acquisition (below) to become the was also the cofounder and Capital. At Accel, he has & Co., went her own way in administrative head of CEO of Twitter. Dorsey is also been involved in major deals by eBay and orchestrating 2014 and co-launched Aspect research at HP. Perkins one of Silicon Valley’s top with Dropbox, StumbleUpon, partnerships with financial 1978 Spotify and with Accel’s in- Ventures. The move wasn’t powerhouses like Visa, Wells later becomes the first angel investors, with invest- Investment banker entirely surprising, as Gouw Fargo and MasterCard. general manager of ments in sites such as Insta- vestments in India. He’s par- Sandy Robertson and gram and Kickstarter. ticularly connected through was named one of Time mag- HP’s computer divi- WHAT HE SAYS: “I put myself asset manager Paul his post as a board member azine’s 10 most influential sions, credited with “Yes, [Square at as many key intersec- Stephens form Robert- WHAT HE SAYS: of the Western Association of women in tech in 2012. helping HP become a is] naive,” Dorsey told tions in my networks as I son Stephens, which Venture Capitalists. part of the minicom- Wired in 2012. “But that’s a WHAT SHE SAYS: “By being can,” Hofman wrote on his later invests in Apple, puter business. He then strength, not a weakness. WHAT HE SAYS: Gandhi, who more visible and showing blog in 2014. “As a result, E-Trade and MapQuest. becomes a founding We literally have fewer than has taken the lead on Ac- we can do this,” Gouw told my network inevitably ends The firm underwrites partner at Kleiner Per- five people in a company cel’s investment in Indian e- Fortune when she launched up connecting me with 600-plus IPOs dur- kins Caufield & Byers of 250 who have worked in commerce company Flipkart, Aspect, “maybe women will great entrepreneurs and ing the ‘90s internet in 1972. the financial industry. So told Business Standard that become more confident to great investments.” boom. Thomas Weisel, our approach is to engineer he wants “to build the defin- be entrepreneurs and inves- a Robertson Stephens executive, eventually and create and build what we ing company for commerce tors themselves.” leaves with half the want to see.” in India. We’re comfortable company and starts if that takes a long time. Montgomery Securi- We’re very comfortable with ties, the last of the four whatever the form of exit is, Doug Leone horsemen banks, which whenever that happens.” helps fund Yahoo and

GOUW PHOTO: HEIDI SCHUMANN; PERKINS: BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES HEIDI SCHUMANN; PERKINS: BLOOMBERG/GETTY GOUW PHOTO: OUTLINE ETHAN PINES/CORBIS LEONE PHOTO: Tandem Computers.

WORTH.COM FEBRUARY-MARCH 2015 047 LIVE KATE CLAUDIA NAVAL ROBERT 15 MITCHELL 17 FAN MUNCE 19 RAVIKANT 20 F. SMITH 1980 COFOUNDER AND PARTNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, COFOUNDER AND CEO, FOUNDER, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, 1991 GROW SCALEVP IBM VENTURE CAPITAL GROUP ANGELLIST VISTA EQUITY PARTNERS John Doerr, one of No, he didn’t “invent Silicon Valley’s most WHY SHE’S IMPORTANT: WHY SHE’S IMPORTANT: Munce WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: With WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: With the internet.” But as a prominent venture Mitchell started at Bank of is a linchpin connecting San early investments in compa- more than $14 billion in- congressman, capitalists later known America and eventually, Francisco’s finance and tech nies like Twitter, vested in 30-plus enterprise was instrumental in MAKE for early investments as senior vice president, industries. At IBM, her job and Uber, Ravikant is a fixer software companies, Smith is sponsoring legislation in Amazon and Google, launched its online banking is to pair the computing gi- for angel investors and entre- perhaps the most successful that funded expansion becomes a partner at services. Her most recent ant’s resources with those preneurs. AngelList, an online African American in private of and greater public

Kleiner Perkins Caufield $300 million fund is focused of the venture capital firms. marketplace for startups and equity. He joined Goldman access to the net, WEST STREET WALL & Byers, where he is on cloud computing, mobile Most recently, Munce and angel investors, automates Sachs in 1994 and became including the High-Per- eventually credited with and software. Extremely IBM have been pouring $100 and accelerates the discovery the firm’s eyes and ears formance Computing its investment in Twitter. well connected, she is the million into companies that process. AngelList ofers op- in Silicon Valley, where he and Communications He will back many pow- former chairwoman of the use its Jeopardy-winning tions to invest in startup and advised companies such as Act of 1991, which cre- erful entrepreneurs such National Venture Capital As- Watson cognitive comput- enterprise funds, which allow Apple, Microsoft and eBay. ated the National Infor- as , Sergey sociation and is also a board ing platform. investors to play the odds He founded Vista in 2000. mation Infrastructure, Brin and member of the Silicon Valley and bet on 100 companies at dubbed the “informa- WHAT SHE SAYS: “Watson WHAT HE SAYS: Smith told of Google. The ventures Bank Financial Group. the same time. tion superhighway.” he sponsors will col- represents a new era of last year After he was VP, Gore lectively create over WHAT SHE SAYS: Mitchell told computing based on its WHAT HE SAYS: “Like every- that he is always “looking became a partner at By Benjamin Reeves 200,000 jobs. in ability to interact in natu- thing else, investing is going to transform the culture Kleiner Perkins Cau- 2013, “The thing that I find ral language, process vast online. You can either be of [companies], transform field & Byers, the ven- the smartest entrepreneurs amounts of big data and an early adopter or a late the way they think about ture capital firm that do is, towards the end of learn from each interac- adopter,” he told Fortune themselves and the industry helped fund Google, 1985 [a meeting], they’re asking tion,” Munce told the San last year. they serve.” AOL and iFund. , grandson more than they’re telling.” Jose Mercury News last year. of William H. Draper Jr., leaves Alex. Brown & Sons to start Draper MARISSA PEJMAN Fisher Jurvetson, which will play a key role in 16 MAYER 18 NOZAD PRESIDENT AND CEO, YAHOO FOUNDING MANAGING PARTNER, launching Hotmail. In PEJMAN MAR VENTURES 1996, Draper and Steve WHY SHE’S IMPORTANT: One Jurvetson will also be ALEXANDRA MARY of Google’s first employees, WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: Nozad credited with the fund- “SASHA” 14 MEEKER Mayer received enormous immigrated from Iran to Palo ing of “,” 13 JOHNSON PARTNER, KLEINER PERKINS attention for becoming CEO Alto and, in 1994, began CAUFIELD & BYERS allowing Hotmail users MANAGING DIRECTOR, of Yahoo in 2012—attention working in a rug shop owned DFJ VTB CAPITAL AURORA to attach brief ads to WHY SHE’S IMPORTANT: that hasn’t relented as she by another Iranian immigrant, the bottom of emails. where he sold rugs to many WHY SHE’S IMPORTANT: Meeker, who’s been called struggles to turn the com- 2004 Draper may be angling the “queen” of the internet, pany around. Yet Mayer is of Silicon Valley’s new mil- Johnson emigrated from the Venture capitalist and to make something else started her career at also one of the Bay Area’s lionaires. Soon enough, he former Soviet Union and was hedge fund manager go viral: the ideas of 18- Lynch and Salomon Broth- top angel investors, hav- was hosting meetings with the first student from the , a cofounder to 28-year-old startup ers. Later, at Morgan Stanley, ing put her own money into VCs, startups and angel USSR to get an MBA from of PayPal, becomes the entrepreneurs. Draper she managed the Netscape mobile payments company investors in the rug shop, the University of , first outside investor is calling on young and his employer eventually Berkeley. She has spent her IPO. Meeker joined KPCB in Square and online investing in Facebook, acquiring entrepreneurs to star went in with him on his first career connecting Bay Area 2010 and sits on the boards platform Wealthfront. a 10.2 percent stake in his reality television of emerging financial players VC fund. Now Nozad has investors with companies in WHAT SHE SAYS: “If you can in the company for project, which he hopes Square and Lending Club, but some big scores to his name, the developing world (includ- find something that you’re $500,000, which he to begin taping this is perhaps best known for her including Dropbox, Lending ing Russia). She is also the really passionate about, cashes out in 2012 for spring, coinciding with annual internet trends report. Club and SoundHound. his Draper University president of the Global Tech- whether you’re a man or over $1 billion. nology Symposium, an annual course, an entrepre- WHAT SHE SAYS: “I’ve made a woman comes a lot less WHAT HE SAYS: “Always be neurship program he gathering of U.S. and foreign my best personal invest- into play,” Mayer told CNN willing and eager to help heads in San Mateo. investors and startups. ments when I’ve been a user a few months before joining others with an introduction,” Nozad advised in a Forbes WHAT SHE SAYS: Despite the of the product,” Meeker told Yahoo. “Passion is a gen- current political tensions Wired in 2012. der-neutralizing force.” piece about his networking between the U.S. and Rus- tips. That said, “use your sia, Johnson is bullish on Rolodex wisely and only business between the two. for the right person and the “Entrepreneurs will continue right time.”

to do what they do and in- Naval Ravikant —Alexa Dragoumis vestors will continue to work with them,” she says. RAVIKANT PHOTO: WEINBERG-CLARK PHOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY OF ANGELLIST; GORE PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES; THIEL PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES THIEL PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES; GORE PHOTO: OF ANGELLIST; WEINBERG-CLARK PHOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY PHOTO: RAVIKANT

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