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Ron Conway

{{short description|American businessman}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2018}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Ron Conway

| image = Ron Conway 1.jpg

| landscape = yes

| birth_name = Ronald Crawford Conway

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1951|3|9}}

| birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| title = Co-founder of SV Angel

| spouse = Gayle Conway

| education = San Jose State University (BA)

}}

Ronald Crawford Conway (born March 9, 1951) is an American venture capitalist and philanthropist.{{Cite web |title=Ron Conway |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/ron-conway/ |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=Forbes |language=en}} He has been described as one of Silicon Valley's "super angels".{{cite news|url=http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2007/tc20070402_747117.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070406024558/http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2007/tc20070402_747117.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 6, 2007|publisher=Business Week|title=VCs Aim to Out-Angel the Angels|first=Aaron|last=Ricadela|date=April 2, 2007}} He is co-founder of SV Angel.

Early career

Conway graduated from San Jose State University with a bachelor's degree in political science.{{Cite web|last=Hoge|first=Patrick|date=January 17, 2010|title=Ron Conway stays invested|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2010/01/18/story2.html|access-date=2020-12-04|website=San Francisco Business Times}}

Conway worked with National Semiconductor Corporation in marketing positions from 1973 to 1979, and at Altos Computer Systems as president and CEO from 1988 to 1990.{{cite web|author=Helft|first=Miguel|date=February 10, 2012|title=Ron Conway is a Silicon Valley startup's best friend|url=http://fortune.com/2012/02/10/ron-conway-is-a-silicon-valley-startups-best-friend/|access-date=July 15, 2015|work=Fortune}} He was the CEO of Personal Training Systems (PTS) from 1991 to 1995. PTS was acquired by SmartForce/SkillSoft.{{cite web|last=Belsener|first=Elin|date=July 13, 2012|title=San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee And Ron Conway Are Ready To Rock Out At Disrupt SF|url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/07/13/san-francisco-mayor-ed-lee-and-ron-conway-are-ready-to-rock-out-at-disrupt-sf/|publisher=TechCrunch}} He grew up in an Irish Catholic family.{{Cite web |last=Knight |first=Heather |date=2012-08-26 |title=Ron Conway: S.F. mover and shaker |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Ron-Conway-S-F-mover-and-shaker-3815771.php |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=SFGATE |language=en}}

Investing

Conway began angel investing in the mid-1990s, with investments in Marimba Systems, Red Herring magazine, and others. He raised $4 million for his first venture capital fund, called Adam Ventures, in 1997. In December 1998 he started Angel Investors LP, a venture capital firm. Within two months he had raised $30 million for its first fund, Angel Investors I. Angel Investors closed on its second fund, Angel Investors II, at the end of 1999, raising $150 million. Angel Investors LP was an early investor in Google, Ask Jeeves, Loudcloud, Napster, and PayPal.Rivlin, Gary. The Godfather of Silicon Valley: Ron Conway And the Fall of the Dot-coms. 1st ed New York: At Random.com, 2001. Conway was recognized for his success with Angel Investors LP by inclusion in the 2006 Forbes Midas list of top dealmakers.{{cite web| title=The Midas List |url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/99/biz_07midas_The-Midas-List_Rank.html |work=Forbes |date=January 25, 2007 |access-date=May 6, 2020}}

Conway was a special partner at Baseline Ventures from 2006 through 2009.{{cite web|title=Baseline Ventures is Making Bold Moves in Venture Capital |url=https://www.boldbusiness.com/human-achievement/baseline-ventures-making-bold-venture-capital-moves/ |publisher=Bold Business |date=December 7, 2018 |access-date=May 6, 2020}} In 2009 Conway turned his personal investment vehicle, SV Angel, into a venture capital firm, raising $10 million from outside investors.{{cite web|author=Michael Arrington |url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/02/26/ron-conway-raising-10-angel-fund-to-expand-sv-angel/ |title=Ron Conway Raising $10 Million Angel Fund to Expand SV Angel/ |publisher=TechCrunch |date=February 26, 2010 |access-date=May 6, 2020}} SV Angel raised six funds through 2018. In 2018, Conway announced that SV Angel would retool its investing strategy for a time, returning to a "back to basics" role as individual angels instead of raising a new fund.{{Cite web |last=Angel |first=S. V. |date=2018-05-31 |title=A Fresh Perspective on Seed Investing |url=https://svangel.medium.com/a-fresh-perspective-on-seed-investing-f7ded55a9a2b |access-date=2022-03-23 |website=Medium |language=en}} In March 2022, Conway announced that SV Angel had raised $269 million for its first-ever growth equity fund. The new fund will be led by Ashvin Bachireddy, who previously co-founded Geodesic Capital. "A goal of this fund is to take the DNA of the seed fund and bring it to the growth stage," said SV Angel Managing Co-director Topher Conway. "We don't lead rounds, we collaborate and don't want to crowd anyone out." SV Angel also promoted Beth Turner to lead its seed fund, with Ron & Topher Conway overseeing both funds as Managing Co-directors.{{Cite web |last=Primack |first=Dan |date=2022-03-02 |title=Ron Conway's SV Angel raises its first growth fund |url=https://www.axios.com/ron-conways-sv-angel-raises-its-first-growth-fund-96014bc4-748f-4afa-80d9-895d2cc498be.html |access-date=2022-03-23 |website=Axios |language=en}}

=List of investments=

Among Conway's 650{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD71IdkIZDg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/FD71IdkIZDg |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Ron Conway Stanford Startup School 2012 Part 1 of 3|date=October 21, 2012 |via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}} or more investments are:

{{div col}}

  • Airbnb{{cite web|last=Chesky|first=Brian|author-link=Brian Chesky|url=https://news.airbnb.com/ron-conway-and-the-economic-empowerment-award/|title= Ron Conway and the Economic Empowerment Award|publisher=Airbnb|date=December 18, 2020|access-date=December 18, 2020}}
  • Attributor{{Cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2006/12/18/attributor-scans-web-for-copyright-violations/|title=Attributor scans web for copyright violations|date=December 18, 2006}}
  • Blippy{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/01/14/blippy-funding/|title=Blippy Shows Its Own Funding On Blippy. And Now Everyone Can See.|date=January 14, 2010 }}
  • Digg{{Cite web|url=http://www.startupsearch.org/category/marketing/|title=Marketing}}
  • Facebook{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-VCDB-8577|title=Ron Conway's Big Deals: How He Found Google And Facebook|first=Tomio|last=Geron|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=October 19, 2010|via=www.wsj.com}}
  • Google
  • LotusFlare{{Cite web|url=https://www.workunbound.club/record/recWZYOqpSoPhKXmj/corporate-strategy-intern?sId=Jobs|title = Undefined}}
  • OMGPOP{{cite web|author=Alyson Shontell |url=http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-03-23/tech/31227995_1_ron-conway-executive-network |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119024750/http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-03-23/tech/31227995_1_ron-conway-executive-network |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 19, 2013 |title=Ron Conway Saved OMGPOP's Life Over And Over Again - Business Insider |publisher=Articles.businessinsider.com |date=March 23, 2012 |access-date=July 8, 2013}}
  • Reddit{{cite web |url=http://www.redditblog.com/2014/09/fundraising-for-reddit.html |title=Fundraising for Reddit |date=September 30, 2014}}
  • OZY{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-ozy-media-workplace-where-staffers-doubted-audience-numbers-2021-10?op=1|title=Ozy insiders describe burnout and doubts about metrics at the scandal-ridden media company|website=Business Insider}}

{{div col end}}

Philanthropy

= Civic and public health =

Conway is active in community and philanthropic activities, serving as Vice Chairman of UCSF Medical Foundation in San Francisco and also as co-chair of the "Fight for Mike" Homer and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. He is on the development committees of UCLA, St. Francis High School, Sacred Heart Schools, The UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, Packard Children's Hospital, Legacy Ventures, and Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. He serves on the Benefit Committee of the Tiger Woods Foundation.[http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/web2007/view/e_spkr/4021 O'Reilly Conferences on Ron Conway]

=Political views=

In 2021 Conway joined The Giving Pledge, a campaign established by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to persuade and recruit extremely wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.{{Cite web|title=Press Release - The Giving Pledge|url=https://givingpledge.org/pressrelease?date=12.14.2021|access-date=2022-02-08|website=Giving Pledge|language=en}}

In 2022 Conway donated $2.5 million to Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutchers' 'Stand with Ukraine' GoFundMe as well as $25,000 to Ariana Grande's Protect & Defend Trans Youth Fund.{{Cite web | url=https://www.pledge.to/protect-defend-trans-youth-fund | title=Protect & Defend Trans Youth Fund }}

==Gun violence==

Conway is on the advisory board of Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit organization founded by the parents of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.{{cite web|title=Silicon Valley Investors Launch Innovation And Investment Campaign To Reduce Gun Violence|url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/03/14/silicon-valley-investors-launch-innovation-and-investment-campaign-to-reduce-gun-violence/| work=TechCrunch|date=March 14, 2013 | accessdate=15 September 2023}}

Conway donated $1 million to fund the Firearms Challenge of the Smart Tech Challenges Foundation, a nonprofit organization he founded with the mission to promote firearms safety through technology and innovation.{{cite news|title=Silicon Valley's Smart Tech Foundation Launches $1 Million Competition For Safer Guns|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3021232/silicon-valley-trio-launches-1-million-competition-for-smarter-safer-guns-exclusive| work=Fast Company|date=November 6, 2013 | accessdate=15 September 2023}}

Political activities

Conway was the single largest campaign contributor to Ed Lee in his successful campaign for Mayor of San Francisco in November 2011; Conway raised $600,000 for Lee through independent expenditure committees. Since then questions have been raised about whether Lee has taken actions to benefit companies in which Conway has investments.{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Matt |date=March 31, 2012 |title=As Mayor Cultivates New Business, Treatment of Backer Is Questioned |work=The New York Times / Bay Citizen |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/us/as-mayor-edwin-m-lee-cultivates-business-treatment-of-backer-is-questioned.html?_r=0 |access-date=June 24, 2013}}

In 2012, Conway founded the San Francisco Citizens Initiative for Technology and Innovation, or sf.citi, a 501(c) organization that advocates for the technology community and is involved in a number of public initiatives, and private/public partnerships involving tech companies partnering with public agencies such as the San Francisco Health Department, the Office of Emergency Management, the police department, and the school district.{{cite news |date=Jan 16, 2014 |title=JusticeMobile app development process calls into question sf.citi involvement |publisher=San Francisco Examiner |url=http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/justicemobile-app-development-process-calls-into-question-sfciti-involvement/Content?oid=2678645}}

In April 2013, a lobbying group called FWD.us (aimed at lobbying for immigration reform and improvements to education) was launched, with Ron Conway listed as one of the supporters.{{cite web |title=Our supporters |url=http://fwd.us/our_supporters |access-date=April 17, 2013 |publisher=FWD.us |archive-date=April 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130416045611/http://www.fwd.us/our_supporters |url-status=dead }}

In 2014, Conway, along with fellow Airbnb investor Reid Hoffman, donated a total of $685,000{{cite news |date=July 27, 2015 |title=Pro-Airbnb Campaign Racks Up Political Endorsements |publisher=SF Weekly |url=http://www.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2015/07/27/pro-airbnb-campaign-racks-up-political-endorsements}} to David Chiu in support of Chiu's tightly fought Assembly campaign against current San Francisco supervisor and 2015 Prop F supporter David Campos.{{cite news |date=Oct 6, 2015 |title=2015 Prop F San Francisco |publisher=KQED |url=http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/10/06/how-san-franciscos-prop-f-would-change-airbnb-rentals}}

Conway has been highly critical of President Donald Trump, especially on the issues of gun control and immigration. He was reported to have spent more than $1 million and raised millions more to support efforts to win Democratic control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018. Recode named him one of ten major Silicon Valley donors and fundraisers for the 2018 November midterm elections {{cite news|url=https://www.recode.net/2018/8/20/17693048/silicon-valley-tech-donors-midterms-2018-democrats-donald-trump-list|title=Ten big Silicon Valley money players behind this November's U.S. midterm elections|last=Schleifer|first=Theodore|date=August 20, 2018|access-date=March 11, 2019}}

Conway was also an early supporter of Mayor London Breed, though in 2018 his focus remained on national issues over local San Francisco elections.{{cite news|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Ron-Conway-says-he-s-too-busy-to-get-involved-12725887.php|title=Ron Conway says he's too busy to get involved in SF's mayor race|date=March 4, 2018|work= San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=March 11, 2019}} However, his wife, Gayle, donated $200,500 to a political action committee that attacked Breed's opponent Jane Kim.{{cite news|url=https://www.vox.com/2018/5/27/17401496/san-francisco-mayor-election-race-silicon-valley-donations|title=Some big Silicon Valley names are throwing money around ahead of next week's mayoral election in San Francisco|date=May 27, 2018|work= Vox}}

Conway serves as co-chair of the COVID-19 Technology Task Force, an technology industry coalition founded in March 2020 collaborating to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web |last=Jacox |first=Madi |title=Leadership |url=https://www.crttf.org/leadership/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224202657/https://www.crttf.org/leadership/ |archive-date=2022-12-24 |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=COVID-19 Technology Task Force |date=February 12, 2021 |language=en-US}}

In August 2022, Conway contributed $50,000 to The Next 50, a liberal political action committee (PAC).{{Cite web |title=The Next 50 PAC PAC Donors |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/the-next-50-pac/C00716423/donors/2022?page_length=25&start=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221227193403/https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/the-next-50-pac/C00716423/donors/2022?start=1&page_length=25 |archive-date=2022-12-27 |access-date=2022-12-27 |website=OpenSecrets |language=en}}

In the first quarter of 2024, Conway and his sons contributed half of the cash contributions provided to the political committee Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao, or “OUST.” {{Cite web |last=Wolfe |first=Eli |date=2024-05-01 |title=Who's funding the recall campaign against Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao? |url=http://oaklandside.org/2024/05/01/whos-funding-the-recall-campaign-against-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao/ |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=The Oaklandside |language=en-US}}

In 2024, Conway donated $250,000 to Clear Choice, a liberal political action committee (PAC), who aims to prevent third-party from undermining Democratic candidates. {{cite web | url=https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail/2024?cmte=C00868448&tab=donors_all | title=Organizations Disclosing Donations to Clear Choice PAC, 2024 }}

= Angelgate =

In September 2010, Ron was involved with Angelgate.{{More information needed|reason=What is Angelgate and how was he involved?|date=December 2020}}

Personal life

Conway currently resides in San Francisco.{{Cite web |title=Ron Conway |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/ron-conway/ |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=Forbes |language=en}} He has a wife and three children.{{Cite web |title=Ron Conway |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/ron-conway/ |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category-inline}}

  • [https://www.svangel.com/ SV Angel]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conway, Ron}}

Category:1951 births

Category:21st-century American businesspeople

Category:Angel investors

Category:American venture capitalists

Category:Living people

Category:Businesspeople from San Francisco

Category:San Jose State University alumni

Category:Silicon Valley people