Meet the Angels: Silicon Valley’s Most Well-Known Investors
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Silicon Valley has long been a central point on the map for investors who are seeking to fund the “next big thing,” which has turned the area into a breeding ground for some of the biggest companies in the world.
While investors are now creating funding clusters in other parts of the world, Silicon Valley still is home to some of the most powerful investors.
Over the past month I’ve been pushing my payment processing company Due.com out to several investors. We’ve had a lot of succcess and a few epic failures with a bunch of Silicon Valleys brightest investors.
I figured I’d save you some time by putting together this list of some of the most well-known investors in the Valley this year to help you raise funding for your startup:
1. Ron Conway, SV Angel
Ron Conway is a renowned Silicon Valley angel investor and philanthropist. Conway ran Angel Investors LP Funds for seven years. He is currently running SV Angel, a San Francisco-based angel investment firm. Conway was also an early stage investor for Google and PayPal. Conway was featured in Forbes Magazine Midas’ top “dealmakers.” @RonConway
2. Dave McClure, 500 Startups
Dave McClure, founder of 500 startups, helps startups by providing seed funding and mentoring through his renowned incubator program. McClure is also a serial entrepreneur, gaining success from his previous startups, PayPal, Founders Fund, and Simply Hired.
@Davemcclure
3. Tim Draper, DFJ
Tim Draper is the founder of DFJ (Draper Fisher Jurvetson), a 30-year-old venture capital firm. In 1996, Draper and partner, Jurvetson, had the idea to attach advertising messages at the end of emails, which led to what we now know as “viral marketing.” Aside from being an advisor to other startups, Draper’s dedication to sharing his knowledge has led him to found his own University, primarily focused on entrepreneurship. @TimDraper
4. Mark Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz
Mark Andreessen is an entrepreneur, investor and software engineer. From developing the Mosaic, the first web browser, and going on to found other Software companies that he later sold, Andreessen has an experienced technical background. Andreessen’s venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, was ranked the number one venture capital firm. @pmarca
5. Paul Graham, Co-founder of Y Combinator
Paul Graham created the first SaaS company, Viaweb. Aside from being a programmer, Graham is also a renowned Silicon Valley Investor, co-founding of Y Combinator that funds more than 800 start ups including Dropbox, Airbnb & Reddit. @PaulG
6. Chris Sacca, Lowercase Capital
Chris Sacca, a former employee of Google, is now the managing venture capitalist at Lowercase Capital. Sacca found success with many of his investments that include Twitter, Kickstarter, Uber, and Instagram. @sacca
7. Reid Hoffman, Greylock
Reid Hoffman is the co-founder of LinkedIn, the professional networking website. Reid was also previously part of the PayPal Mafia. Hoffman is now a VC partner at Greylock Partners, one of the oldest VC firms. @quixotic
8. Peter Thiel, Founders Fund
Peter Thiel is the partner at a venture firm, Founders Fund that invests primarily in science and technology companies. Thiel is a renowned social critic and dedicates himself toward finding innovative solutions to the world’s most difficult problems. Thiel was a member of the PayPal Mafia that found early success with revolutionizing E-commerce. @PeterThiel
9. Mike Maples, Floodgate
Maples is a venture capitalist that specializes in marketing and product management. Maples co-founded Floodgate, an angel investing firm. @m2jr
11. Jeff Clavier, SoftTech VC
Jeff Clavier runs one of the most established seed VC firm in Silicon Valley, SoftTech. Clavier has backed many successful startups, such as Fitbit, Eventbrite, and Mint. @Jeff
13. Gil Penchina
Gil Penchina, former employee of eBay and GE, is a Silicon Valley angel investor and entrepreneur. Penchina found success with Wikia where he was CEO. Penchina’s investments include AngelList, LinkedIn and PayPal. @GilPenchina
14. Manny Fernandez, DreamFunded.com
Fernandez is a rising investor star of Silicon Valley. He is co-founder/CEO of DreamFunded.com, which is an equity crowdfunding platform that provides access to pre-IPO companies. Manny is the winner of SF Angel Investor of the Year and equity crowdfunding leadership award. @MannyFernandez
These 14 Silicon Valley investors illustrate just how diverse the interest has become in pursuing startups across a wider range of industries and particularly new business segments that have the greatest potential for sustainable growth.
The list also shows the emergence of new types of funding vehicles like equity crowdfunding and accelerators as well as investors that previously were part of other successful companies as executives or founders but now are seeking to find success through investing new business ideas.
