Ron Conway

Ron Conway
Born	Ronald Crawford Conway (1951-03-09) March 9, 1951 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Residence	San Francisco
Alma mater	San Jose State University
Occupation	Angel investor
Spouse(s)	Gayle Conway

Ronald Crawford "Ron" Conway (born March 9, 1951) is an American angel investor and philanthropist, often described as one of Silicon Valley's "super angels".^[1] Conway is recognized as a strong networker^[2] with the ear of many of San Francisco's most important decision-makers.

Early career

Conway graduated from San Jose State University^[3] with a bachelor's degree in Political Science.

Conway knew little about technology on his first entry to the business, but became one of the most influential tech investors in American history.^[4] 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.^[5] He was the CEO of Personal Training Systems (PTS) from 1991 to 1995. PTS was acquired by SmartForce/SkillSoft.^[6]

Investing

As founder and Managing Partner of the Angel Investors LP funds, he was an early stage investor in Google, Ask Jeeves and PayPal. He began investing independently in 2005, and by 2006 had achieved sixth place in the Forbes magazine Midas list of top "dealmakers".

Dot Com era

Conway's first fund, Angel Investors I, raised and invested in 1998, generated a 700% return, and his second, raised and invested during 1999, saw a 150% return. Conway invests with SV Angel, his investment firm.^[7]

Some Valley observers, notably VentureBeat, have been critical of Ron Conway for his investments during the Internet boom, believing them to be "symbolic of the era’s hubris."^[8] Conway developed a reputation for throwing lavish cocktail parties and raising cash from a diverse group of celebrities, sportspeople, and political figures such as Henry Kissinger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, and Shaquille O'Neal, which he then ploughed into start-ups.

Conway was embroiled in a conflict with other angel investors in the Angelgate scandal of 2010, and, in 2011, another controversy erupted around rumors of conflicts he had with entrepreneurs.^[9]

List of investments

Among Conway's 650^[10] or more investments are:

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.^[17]

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.

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.

Politics

Conway was the single largest campaign contributor to Edwin M. 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.^[18]

In 2014 Conway, along with fellow Airbnb investor Reid Hoffman, donated a total of $685,000^[19] to David Chiu in support of Chiu's tightly fought Assembly campaign against current San Francisco supervisor and 2015 Prop F supporter David Campos.^[20]

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.^[21]

In 2012 Conway founded the San Francisco Citizens Initiative for Technology and Innovation, or sf.citi, a 501(c)6 non-profit 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 Dept., the Office of Emergency Management, the police dept., and the school district.^[22][23][24]

Conway has voiced opposition to Aaron Peskin as candidate for the Board Supervisors in the 2015 November election. In a fundraising gathering at the law firm Hanson Bridgett, he was reported to have said, "We'd better not have anybody here give to Aaron Peskin, or there'll be problems with Ed Lee". Conway instead urged potential donors to support Julie Christensen. The City's Attorney office has refused to comment on the ongoing investigation of a possible violation of the Political Reform Act.^[25]

On 16 October 2016, The Guardian reported Ron Conway "donated $49,999 to a divisive ballot measure intended to clear San Francisco’s streets of homeless encampments, according to campaign filings." ^[26]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ron Conway.

• Video and podcast of Ron Conway speaking at Stanford
• The New York Times: "A Silicon Valley Vision for San Francisco"