DOCSLIB.ORG

Venture Capital Overview

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Venture Capital Overview Venture Capital Overview Thomas Williford May 2019 Key Observations 1. Venture Capital funding is increasing, but concentrating into fewer deals. Key Observations 2. Traditional and corporate VC firms are placing more funding into seed and Series A deals. Key Observations 3. The top 20 Venture Capital firms produce the highest returns and secure the best deals. VC Firm Ranking Criteria Returns to Investors Longevity of Firm Impact on Society - Total Assets Managed - How many funds has - Have the investments the firm raised? changed the world? - Number of exits (acquisitions or IPOs) - Has the firm retained - Has the firm impacted its best investors? the VC industry? - Pedigree of partners and investors. - Pedigree of the firm’s - Does the firm have a reputation. vision beyond generating returns? Honorable Mentions - VC Firms Kleiner Perkins - Dominant in the past, but slipped considerably in recent years. NEA - The counterculture to most VCs, yet the largest VC firm in America. General Catalyst - Great recent performance. Most upward potential. Y Combinator - An excellent hybrid between an accelerator and a VC firm. Softbank - $100 Billion Vision Fund enables huge investments in emerging tech. Top 5 Venture Capital Firms 5 4 3 2 1 Greylock Benchmark Founders Fund Andreessen-Horowitz Sequoia 5 - Greylock Notable Partners: Reid Hoffman, Bill Helman Current Portfolio Highlights: Coinbase, Roblox, Coda Exits: Instagram, Redhat, Pandora Ranking Analysis - Greylock Total Assets Managed How many Funds has the Firm Raised: Firm’s Investment Impacts on World (1-10): 3.1 Billion 14 8 Exits to date: Has the firm retained its best investors: Firm’s Impact on VC Industry (1-10): 192 Somewhat 6 Pedigree of Partners (1-10): Pedigree of the Firm’s Reputation (1-10): Firm’s Vision beyond Returns (1-10): 7 - Losing talent recently 8.5 - Founded 1965 6 4 - Benchmark Notable Partners: Bill Gurley, Peter Fenton Current Portfolio Highlights: Zillow, Tinder, Nextdoor Exits from Seed/Series A Investments: Ebay, Uber, Snapchat Ranking Analysis - Benchmark Total Assets Managed How Many Funds has The Firm Raised: Firm’s investment impacts on world (1-10): 2.9 Billion 13 7.5 - Ebay Exited Companies: Has the Firm Retained its Best Investors: Firm’s Impact on VC Industry (1-10): 151 Yes 6 Pedigree of Partners (1-10): Pedigree of the Firm’s Reputation (1-10): Vision beyond Generating Returns (1-10): 7 8 - Founded 1995 9 - Open source, no “CEO” 3 - Founders Fund Notable Partners: Peter Thiel, Brian Singerman Current Portfolio Highlights: SpaceX, Anduril, Oscar Exits: Facebook, Zynga, Spotify Ranking Analysis - Founders Fund Total Assets Managed How many Funds has the Firm Raised: Firm’s Investment Impacts on World (1-10): 3.4 Billion 6 7 Exited Companies: Has the Firm Retained Its Best Investors: Firm’s Impact on VC Industry (1-10): 75 Somewhat 7 - Emphasis on innovation. Pedigree of Partners (1-10): Pedigree of the Firm’s Reputation (1-10): Firm’s Vision beyond Returns (1-10): 9 - PayPal, Palantir 8 - Founded in 2005 9.5 - Equip founders for “Zero to One” 2- Andreessen Horowitz Notable Partners: Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz Current Portfolio Highlights: Lime, Illumio, Coinbase Exits: Github, Dollar Shave Club, Pinterest Ranking Analysis - Andreessen Horowitz Total Assets Managed: How Many Funds has the Firm Raised: Firm’s Investment Impacts on World (1-10): 9.4 Billion 13 7 Exited Companies: Has the Firm Retained its Best Investors: Firm’s Impact on VC Industry (1-10): 108 Yes 9 - Registering firm as fin. Advisors Pedigree of Partners (1-10): Pedigree of the Firm’s Reputation (1-10): Firm’s Vision beyond Returns (1-10): 9 - Founded NetScape, 9 - founded 2009 7 - Software is Eating the World OpsWare 1 - Sequoia: Notable Partners: Michael Moritz, Alfred Lin, Neil Shen Current Portfolio Highlights: DoorDash, Verkada, Bird Exits: Apple, Oracle, DropBox Ranking Analysis - Sequoia Total Assets Managed: How Many Funds has the Firm Raised: Firm’s Investment Impact on World (1-10): 15.3 Billion 22 different categories 10 - Led Apple, Sequoia China Exited Companies: Retention of Best Investors: Firm’s Impact on VC Industry (1-10): Yes 9.5 - Best VC model for decades 248 Pedigree of Partners (1-10): Pedigree of Firm’s Reputation (1-10): Firm’s Vision beyond Returns (1-10): 9 10 - Founded in 1972 9 - Empowering Apple, Google VC Investor Ranking Criteria Impact on Startups History of Investment Impact on VC - Has this investor’s - Has the investor backed - Has the investor had a guidance as a board profitable ventures significant impact at a firm? member helped startups consistently? succeed? - Does the investor back - Has the investor changed the - Has this investor profitable ventures early? thought framework for how founded any successful VC investments are startups? conducted? - Honorable Mentions - VC Investors Reid Hoffman - Greylock Ron Conway - SV Angel Bill Gurley - Benchmark Elad Gil - Angel Investor Neil Shen - Sequoia China Alfred Lin - Sequoia Fred Wilson - AVC Peter Levine - Andreessen Horowitz Top 5 Venture Capital Investors 5 4 3 2 1 Peter Fenton Michael Moritz Mary Meeker Peter Thiel Marc Andreessen 5 - Peter Fenton Benchmark Current Portfolio Companies - Docker, Buoyant, TimescaleDB Exits - Twitter, Yelp, Elastic Quote - “The best time to invest is right before the company’s rising ‘adoption curve’ meets the declining risk curve.” Ranking Analysis - Peter Fenton Has this investor’s guidance as a Has the investor backed Has the investor had a significant board member helped startups profitable ventures consistently? impact at a firm? succeed? (1-10): (1-10): 9 - Seven years at Accel, best 7 - Twitter @ 25 employees, 9.5 - on Midas List of Top 100 current Benchmark investor Yelp investors since 2007 Has this investor founded any Does the investor back Has the investor changed the successful startups? (1-10): profitable ventures early? thought framework for how VC 1 - None founded himself. (1-10): investments are conducted? 8 - Well known for backing Yes - Back companies early to companies early achieve large gains 4 -Michael Moritz Sequoia Capital Current Portfolio Companies - Stripe, Instacart, Klarna Exits - Google, Yahoo, LinkedIn Quote - “There's nothing more invigorating than being deeply involved with a young team of founders out to do something incredibly special.” Ranking Analysis - Michael Moritz Has this investor’s guidance as a Has the investor backed Has the investor had a significant board member helped startups profitable ventures consistently? impact at a firm? succeed? 9 9 - Leader at Sequoia for a decade 8 - Helped Google succeed Has this investor founded any Does the investor back Has the investor changed the successful startups? profitable ventures early? thought framework for how VC investments are conducted? 1- None founded himself 8.5 9.5 - In tune with to Steve Jobs’ mindset and excellence 3 - Mary Meeker Kleiner Perkins -> Buoy Current Portfolio Companies - Peloton, Houzz, LegalZoom Exits - Square, Waze, Docusign Quote - “I love data. I think it's very important to get it right, and I think it's good to question it.” Ranking Analysis - Mary Meeker Has this investor’s guidance as a Has the investor backed Has the investor had a significant board member helped startups profitable ventures consistently? impact at a firm? succeed? 9.5 - Multiple decades backing 10 - Headlined Kleiner Perkins and 9 - Balances involvement and great startups founded Buoy freedom with the startup Has this investor founded any Does the investor back Has the investor changed the successful startups? profitable ventures early? thought framework for how VC investments are conducted? 1 - No startups founded 9 - Good record of entering startups ahead of Silicon Valley 9.5 - One of the most respected investors in Silicon Valley 2 - Peter Thiel Founders Fund Current Portfolio Companies - Palantir, SpaceX, AirBnB Exits - PayPal, Facebook, Joyent Quote - “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.” Ranking Analysis - Peter Thiel Has this investor’s guidance as a Has the investor backed Has the investor had a significant board member helped startups profitable ventures consistently? impact at a firm? succeed? 9 - Maintained top investments 9.5 - Co-founded Founders Fund, Great Facebook and Palantir since early 2000s led it to a top 5 fund guidance Has this investor founded any Does the investor back Has the investor changed the successful startups? profitable ventures early? thought framework for how VC investments are conducted? 10 - PayPal, Palantir 10 -First outside investor in Facebook, early SpaceX investor 9.5 - Use investing to drive change from Zero to One 1 - Marc Andreessen Andreessen Horowitz Current Portfolio Companies - Lime, Slack, Soylent Exits - Mosaic, Netscape, Lyft, Zynga Quote - “You are cruising along, and technology changes. You have to adapt.” Ranking Analysis - Marc Andreessen Has this investor’s guidance as a Has the investor backed Has the investor had a significant board member helped startups profitable ventures consistently? impact at a firm? succeed? 9.5 10 - Founded a top 3 VC firm in 9 - Very involved in leading Andreessen Horowitz startups to succeed Has this investor founded any Does the investor back Has the investor changed the successful startups? profitable ventures early? thought framework for how VC 10 - Netscape, Opsware 9.5 investments are conducted? Yes - emphasis on identifying software startups early Sources http://www.hbs.edu/newventurecompetition/business-track/Documents/FH%20Boston%20Financing%20HBS%20NVC.pdf https://www.angelkings.com/top-venture-capital-firms https://www.techinasia.com/sequoia-accel-andreessen-horowitz-smartest-vcs-west https://medium.com/startup-grind/all-the-venture-capital-fundraising-bloggers-you-should-be-following-6ea9817039c4 https://www.cbinsights.com/research/top-venture-capital-partners/ https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/the-state-of-us-venture-capital-activity-in-15-charts https://angel.co/benchmark-capital https://www.cbinsights.com https://www.linkedin.com/ https://foundersfund.com https://www.sequoiacap.com https://a16z.com https://pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/11295-73.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Mont Pelerin Society
    A SPECIAL MEETING THE MONT PELERIN SOCIETY JANUARY 15–17, 2020 FROM THE PAST TO THE FUTURE: IDEAS AND ACTIONS FOR A FREE SOCIETY CHAPTER FORTY-ONE CHINA, GLOBALIZATION, CAPITALISM, SILICON VALLEY, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, AND EXCEPTIONALISM PETER THIEL & PETER ROBINSON HOOVER INSTITUTION • STANFORD UNIVERSITY 1 1 China, Globalization, Capitalism, Silicon Valley, Political Correctness, and Exceptionalism A Conversation Between Peter Theil and Peter Robinson January 17, 2020 Peter Robinson: The late economist and foreign policy analyst Hoover fellow Henry Rowen writing in 1996, quote, "When will China become a democracy? "The answer is around the year 2015. "This prediction is based on China's steady "and impressive economic growth, "which in turn fits the pattern of the way in which freedom "has grown in Asia and elsewhere in the World." Worked in South Korea, worked in Taiwan. Economic growth leads to democracy. In China, what went wrong? Peter Thiel: Well, Peter, this is always a set up for me to start by both flattering you and criticizing you a little bit, since there was that very famous Reagan speech you gave, that you wrote for Reagan, where it was, you know, tear down that wall, Mr. Gorbachev, and it was very effective. But it was perhaps, it was not only in the West that we learned lessons from it, the Chinese communists also paid very careful attention to it, and they learned that you had to have perestroika without glasnost. You had to get rid of the Marxism without getting rid of the Leninism, and they learned somehow the very opposite lessons of that fateful year 1989.
    [Show full text]
  • Workshop on Venture Capital and Antitrust, February 12, 2020
    Venture Capital and Antitrust Transcript of Proceedings at the Public Workshop Held by the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice February 12, 2020 Paul Brest Hall Stanford University 555 Salvatierra Walk Stanford, CA 94305 Table of Contents Opening Remarks ......................................................................................................................... 1 Fireside Chat with Michael Moritz: Trends in VC Investment: How did we get here? ........ 5 Antitrust for VCs: A Discussion with Stanford Law Professor Doug Melamed ................... 14 Panel 1: What explains the Kill Zones? .................................................................................... 22 Afternoon Remarks .................................................................................................................... 40 Panel 2: Monetizing data ............................................................................................................ 42 Panel 3: Investing in platform-dominated markets ................................................................. 62 Roundtable: Is there a problem and what is the solution? ..................................................... 84 Closing Remarks ......................................................................................................................... 99 Public Workshop on Venture Capital and Antitrust, February 12, 2020 Opening Remarks • Makan Delrahim, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice MAKAN
    [Show full text]
  • The Rise & Role of Venture Studios in Healthcare Innovation
    The Rise & Role of Venture Studios in Healthcare Innovation Session # 195, August 12, 2021 Le s Wilkins on Chief Operating Officer, Hashed Health DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are solely those of the author/presenter and do not necessarily represent any policy or position of HIMSS. 1 Welcome Le s Wilkins on Chief Operating Officer, Hashed Health #HIMSS21 2 Conflict of Interest Les Wilkinson, COO, Hashed Health Has no real or apparent conflicts of interest to report. #HIMSS21 3 Agenda • Current State of Innovation. • Studios are innovating innovation. • Studio value proposition. • Studio characteristics and structure. • Studio results. #HIMSS21 4 Learning Objectives – By the end of this session, the audience will be able to: • State common reasons healthcare startups fail and how new innovation models can de-risk the innovation process. • Describe traditional corporate innovation challenges in her/his own words. • Design a venture studio process for moving ideas to commercialization. • Apply the principles of a venture studio process to their own innovation efforts. • Identify how to differentiate between accelerators, incubators, corporate innovation programs and new venture studio models. • Recognize whether a venture studio model could be a fit for their organization. #HIMSS21 5 Startup Mythology The Garage 6 Startup Reality >90% 75% 1% Percentage of Venture Backed Startup Failure Rate Companies that NEVER Return Cash Odds of achieving Unicorn Status to Investors Source: Startup Genome, 2019 Source: CBInsights Report Source: Failory #HIMSS21 7 No Market Need Ran Out of Cash Poor User Experience Why Not the Right Team Startups Fail Pricing and COGS Competition Source: CBInsights #HIMSS21 8 Innovation is a Priority for Enterprise .
    [Show full text]
  • Ebay Response to Carl Icahn
    February 24, 2014 eBay Inc. Responds to Carl Icahn's Feb. 24 Open Letter to Stockholders SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- New eBay shareholder Carl Icahn has cherry-picked old news clips and anecdotes out of context to attack the integrity of two of the most respected, accomplished and value-driven technology leaders in Silicon Valley. Marc Andreessen and Scott Cook bring extraordinary insight, expertise and leadership to eBay's board, which is scrupulous in its governance practices and fully transparent with regard to its directors' other affiliations and businesses. And eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe is widely respected for his turnaround of eBay and leadership of the company over the past six years. As we are sure our other shareholders would agree, we prefer to engage in more constructive and substantive discussions of why, in our view, PayPal and eBay are better together. Instead, Mr. Icahn unfortunately has resorted to mudslinging attacks against two impeccably qualified directors. Mr. Icahn has nominated two of his employees to eBay's board. As we have said, the board's nominating committee will review the nominations of his employees in due course. Even if our board does not support the nominations, ultimately shareholders will decide whether they believe Mr. Icahn's employees are better qualified than directors such as Mr. Cook (Mr. Andreessen is not up for re-election this year) to sit on the board of a leading technology company. The board has been clear in its view that shareholders are best served by keeping PayPal part of eBay. The board regularly assesses all strategic options for the company; should circumstances change the board is entirely capable of evaluating alternatives for optimizing shareholder value.
    [Show full text]
  • Sequoia Capital Invests in Klarna
    May 05, 2012 12:10 BST Sequoia Capital invests in Klarna Sequoia Capital is investing in Klarna AB ("Klarna"), one of the Nordic region’s leading e-commerce payment solution providers, and will become Klarna’s largest single owner. Sven Hagströmer, Chairman of Investment AB Öresund ("Öresund"), has been named Chairman of the Board of Klarna, and Michael Moritz, Partner at Sequoia Capital, has been made a member of the board. During his tenure at Sequoia Capital, Mr Moritz has invested in companies such as Google, Yahoo and PayPal and has served on the boards of these companies. - Sequoia Capital has extensive expertise and many years’ experience in investing in and developing promising growth companies operating in industries that are exciting for successful global companies. We are now stepping up the pace of our international expansion, first in Europe and then globally, said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna and previous CEO of Kreditor. Sequoia Capital’s previous investments include PayPal, Google and YouTube. E-commerce in Europe is growing rapidly, and Sequoia Capital sees great potential in Klarna. - Klarna has done a fabulous job serving the needs of merchants and consumers in Europe’s e-commerce market, said Michael Moritz, Partner at Sequoia Capital. With e-commerce growing rapidly across the E.U., where card based payments are only 1/3 that of the U.S., Klarna has an incredible opportunity to be the most trusted solution in the $40 billion global payments market. Klarna will also do a directed new share issue of SEK 70m in conjunction with the change of ownership.
    [Show full text]
  • Received by the Regents May 21, 2015
    THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN REGENTS COMMUNICATION ITEM FOR INFORMATION Subject: Alternative Asset Commitments Background and Summary: Under a May 1994 Request for Action, the University may commit to follow-on investments in a new fund sponsored by a previously approved partnership provided the fund has the same investment strategy and core investment personnel as the prior fund. Pursuant to that policy, this item reports on the University's follow-on investments with the previously approved partnerships listed below. Sequoia Capital U.S. Venture Fund XV, L.P., a venture capital fund headquartered in Menlo Park, CA, will invest in early and growth stage technology companies located in the U.S. The focus will be on technology companies formed in the western part of the country, particularly California's Silicon Valley. The University committed $6 million to Sequoia Capital U.S. Venture Fund XV, L.P., in January 2015. Related Real Estate Fund II, L.P., is a New York, NY, based fund sponsored by The Related Companies that will invest in assets where the firm will leverage its extensive capabilities and resources in development, construction and real estate management to add value to the investments. The acquisitions will include underperforming assets in need of operational or development expertise, assets or companies with structural ownership issues, foreclosed multi-family assets, and special situations. It is expected the fund will be diversified by property type and geographic location. The University committed $35 million to Related Real Estate Fund II, L.P., in February 2015. GSO European Senior Debt Feeder Fund LP., a New York, NY, based fund sponsored by GSO Capital Partners LP, focuses on privately originated debt investments in healthy mid to large cap European companies with EBITDAs in the range of €50 million to €150 million (-$57 million to $170 million).
    [Show full text]
  • August 4, 2021 the Honorable Charles
    August 4, 2021 The Honorable Charles Schumer The Honorable Mitch McConnell Majority Leader Republican Leader United States Senate United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader McConnell, We’re writing to express support for the bipartisan amendment to the infrastructure bill offered by Senator Wyden, Senator Lummis, and Senator Toomey. We share the Senators’ concern that the existing provision regarding the taxation of cryptocurrency transactions is overly broad and will sweep in non-intermediaries, such as network validators and software developers, and would stifle innovation by imposing what would be an unworkable reporting requirement on those groups. The infrastructure bill is too important to be left vulnerable to future legal challenges based on the text as currently written. This bipartisan amendment is the right solution to address these concerns in a simple way. As the leaders of the largest crypto venture fund, we are encouraged by the government’s recognition that this emerging sector is here to stay and is only growing. For diverse constituencies – from musicians, artists, and other creators to small business owners and those left out of the traditional financial system – there is so much untapped potential in crypto and blockchain. A proper regulatory strategy needs to reflect one important fact: crypto is not a monolith. The crypto universe extends far beyond its financial origins, encompassing artwork, community development, and new ways of forming organizations. These use cases will only continue to grow as whole new economies are built on decentralized protocols, much like the internet was built on top of protocols like TCP/IP.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2018 – 2019 Contents a Letter to Our Community
    AnnuAl RepoRt 2018 – 2019 Contents A Letter to Our Community Dear Friends of Yale Center Beijing, Yale Center Beijing (YCB) is proud to celebrate its fifth anniversary this fall. Since its establishment on October 27, 2014, YCB is Yale University’s first and only university-wide center outside of the United States and continues to serve as an intellectual hub that draws luminaries from China, the U.S., and beyond. During 2018-2019, YCB hosted a variety of events and programs that advanced Yale's mission to improve our world and develop global leaders for all sectors, featuring topics ranging from health and medicine, technology and entrepreneurship, environment and sustainability, to politics, economics, and the arts and humanities. Over the past half-decade, YCB has become a prominent convening space that engages scholars and thought leaders in dialogues that foster openness, connectedness, and innovation. Today, the Center 1 is a key hub for Yale’s global activities, as programming that features Yale faculty, students, and alumni increased from A Letter to Our Community 33% of the Center’s activities in 2014-2015 to nearly 70% in 2018-2019. 2 Looking forward, as YCB aims to maintain and advance its standing as one of the most vibrant foreign university Yale Center Beijing Advisory Committee centers in China, the Center will facilitate and organize programming that: ± Enlighten—Promote interdisciplinary and transnational discourse, through the Yale Starlight Science Series, 4 the Greenberg Distinguished Colloquium, etc., and; Highlights of the Year ± Engage—Convene emerging and established leaders, whether from academia, business, government, or 8 nonprofit organizations, to discuss and tackle important issues in an ever-changing world, through programs Celebrating Five Years at Yale Center Beijing such as the Yale-Sequoia China Leadership Program and the Women’s Leadership Program.
    [Show full text]
  • The Uber Board Deliberates: Is Good Governance Worth the Firing of an Entrepreneurial Founder? by BRUCE KOGUT *
    ID#190414 CU242 PUBLISHED ON MAY 13, 2019 The Uber Board Deliberates: Is Good Governance Worth the Firing of an Entrepreneurial Founder? BY BRUCE KOGUT * Introduction Uber Technologies, the privately held ride-sharing service and logistics platform, suffered a series of PR crises during 2017 that culminated in the resignation of Travis Kalanick, cofounder and longtime CEO. Kalanick was an acclaimed entrepreneur, building Uber from its local San Francisco roots to a worldwide enterprise in eight years, but he was also a habitual rule- breaker. 1 In an effort to put the recent past behind the company, the directors of Uber scheduled a board meeting for October 3, 2017, to vote on critical proposals from new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi that were focused essentially on one question: How should Uber be governed now that Kalanick had stepped down as CEO? Under Kalanick, Uber had grown to an estimated $69 billion in value by 2017, though plagued by scandal. The firm was accused of price gouging, false advertising, illegal operations, IP theft, sexual harassment cover-ups, and more.2 As Uber’s legal and PR turmoil increased, Kalanick was forced to resign as CEO, while retaining his directorship position on the nine- member board. His June 2017 resignation was hoped to calm the uproar, but it instead increased investor uncertainty. Some of the firm’s venture capital shareholders (VCs) marked down their Uber holdings by 15% (Vanguard, Principal Financial), while others raised the valuation by 10% (BlackRock).3 To restore Uber’s reputation and stabilize investor confidence, the board in August 2017 unanimously elected Dara Khosrowshahi as Uber’s next CEO.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Comments October 30 to November 12, 2013
    Public Comments October 30 to November 12, 2013 From: Ron Conway Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2013 3:03 PM To: Nancy Bechtle Subject: Join me in supporting the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum in the Presidio in SF To the Board of the Presidio Trust: As you know, I have a passion for making and keeping San Francisco at the forefront of innovation. Through sf.citi, the nonprofit organization I founded to help promote San Francisco as the country’s 21st century capital of technology and forward thinking, I watch every day the work of countless artists, technicians and talented people that keep this city at the top of its game. I believe that the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum is the perfect addition to San Francisco’s cityscape: not only an attraction that will generate interest in and support for the Presidio (not to mention millions of dollars each year in revenue for the Presidio through land rents) but specifically as a beacon that says to the world that San Francisco is, and will remain, this country’s capital of innovation. Certainly, there is no greater innovator around than George Lucas. His films and his vision have transformed cinema. His businesses have transformed the tech sector, specifically digital technology. And, his passion for education has resulted in a world-class collection of art (still growing) that is second to none. San Francisco deserves this museum. It demands it. I, along with those listed below, are supporting this museum not because of George Lucas, but rather because of the promise it represents.
    [Show full text]
  • PETER THIEL Palantir Technologies; Thiel Foundation; Founders Fund; Paypal Co-Founder
    Program on SCIENCE & DEMOCRACY Science, Technology & Society LECTURE SERIES 2015 HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL HARVARD UNIVERSITY PETER THIEL Palantir Technologies; Thiel Foundation; Founders Fund; PayPal co-founder BACK TO THE FUTURE Will we create enough new technology to sustain our society? WITH PANELISTS WEDNESDAY Antoine Picon Travelstead Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Design March 25, 2015 Margo Seltzer Harvard College Professor, School of Engineering and 5:00-7:00pm Applied Sciences Science Center Samuel Moyn Professor of Law and History, Harvard Law School Lecture Hall C 1 Oxford Street MODERATED BY Sheila Jasanoff Harvard University Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies CO-SPONSORED BY Program on Harvard University Harvard School of Harvard University Center for the Engineering and Graduate School Science, Technology & Society Environment Applied Sciences of Design HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL HARVARD UNIVERSITY http://sts.hks.harvard.edu/ Program on SCIENCE & DEMOCRACY Science, Technology & Society LECTURE SERIES 2015 HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL HARVARD UNIVERSITY Peter Thiel is an entrepreneur and investor. He started PayPal in 1998, led it as CEO, and took it public in 2002, defining a new era of fast and secure online commerce. In 2004 he made the first outside investment in Facebook, where he serves as a director. The same year he launched Palantir Technologies, a software company that harnesses computers to empower human analysts in fields like national security and global finance. He has provided early funding for LinkedIn, Yelp, and dozens of successful technology startups, many run by former colleagues who have been dubbed the “PayPal Mafia.” He is a partner at Founders Fund, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has funded companies like SpaceX and Airbnb.
    [Show full text]
  • Weekly Internet / Digital Media / Saas Sector Summary
    Weekly Internet / Digital Media / SaaS Sector Summary Week of July 14th, 2014 Industry Stock Market Valuation Internet / Digital Media / SaaS Last 12 Months Last 3 Months 180 120 14.6% 160 11.9% 60.8% 10.4% 10.4% 110 7.9% 140 22.3% 7.7% 21.0% 6.6% 20.4% 5.9% 120 20.0% 5.1% 16.3% 100 13.9% 100 13.0% 10.8% 80 90 7/12/13 9/23/13 12/5/13 2/16/14 4/30/14 7/12/14 4/11/14 5/4/14 5/27/14 6/19/14 7/12/14 (1) (2) (3) (4) Search / Online Advertising Internet Commerce Internet Content Publishers (5) (6) (7) (8) NASDAQ Diversified Marketing Media Conglomerates Gaming SaaS Notes: 1) Search/Online Advertising Composite includes: BCOR, BLNX-GB, CNVR, CRTO, GOOG, FUEL, MCHX, MM, MRIN, MSFT, QNST, RLOC, RUBI, TRMR, TWTR, YHOO, YNDX, YUME. 2) Internet Commerce Composite includes: AMZN, AWAY, COUP, CPRT, DRIV, EBAY, EXPE, FLWS, LINTA, NFLX, NILE, OPEN, OSTK, PCLN, PRSS, SSTK, STMP, TZOO, VPRT, ZU. 3) Internet Content Composite includes: AOL, CRCM, DHX, DMD, EHTH, IACI, MOVE, MWW, RATE, RENN, RNWK, SCOR, SFLY, TRLA, TST, TTGT, UNTD, WBMD, WWWW, XOXO, Z. 4) Publishers Composite includes: GCI, MMB-FR, NWSA, NYT, PSON-GB, SSP, TRI, UBM-GB, WPO. 5) Diversified Marketing Composite includes: ACXM, EFX, EXPN-GB, HAV-FR, HHS, IPG, MDCA, NLSN, VCI, WPP-GB. 6) Media Conglomerates Composite includes: CBS, CMCSA, DIS, DISCA, LGF, SNE, TWX, VIA.B. 7) Gaming Composite includes: 2432-JP, 3632-JP, 3765-JP, 700-HK, ATVI, CYOU, EA, GA, GAME, GLUU, NTES, PWRD, UBI-FR, ZNGA.
    [Show full text]