首页  >>  来自播客: The Social Radars 更新   反馈  

The Social Radars - Ron Conway, Founder, SV Angel (Part 2)

发布时间:2025-01-02 15:30:00   原节目
以下是翻译后的中文版本: 在“社交雷达”播客的第二期节目中,主持人杰西卡·利文斯顿和卡罗琳·利维继续与硅谷传奇人物罗恩·康威进行对话。节目一开始回顾了Y Combinator校友聚会,康威在那里与众多创始人建立了联系,再次坚定了他支持和帮助他们的热情。他分享了一则趣闻,讲述了他如何为马克·扎克伯格辩护,对抗卡拉·斯韦舍的一次被认为不公平的采访,突显了SV Angel对创始人坚定不移的承诺。 康威在聚会上的反思也让他意识到,关系在硅谷是多么重要,以及它从半导体产业、硬件产业,到软件、互联网,再到人工智能,是如何变得相互关联的,所有这些都孕育了下一代的领导者。 随后,对话转向了康威早期的天使投资生涯。他讲述了如何离开奥拓斯计算机公司(Altos Computer)休假,以便有更多时间陪伴家人,在此期间他开始涉足天使投资。他的第一笔投资是Natural Language Incorporated (NLI),一家早期的AI公司,远远超前于时代。康威详细描述了如何处理微软潜在收购NLI的事件,强调了他对公司的支持,以及他为确保公司生存而推动达成交易的紧迫性。一些NLI工程师在微软工作多年的成功故事,突显了微软培养创新文化的氛围。 康威回顾了他重返奥拓斯计算机公司以及最终决定全职从事天使投资的经历。红杉资本(Sequoia Capital)创始人唐·瓦伦丁在这一决定中发挥了关键作用,他指导康威并提供了关于指导创始人的见解。康威强调了在董事会会议上跟随瓦伦丁,观察他指导企业家的方式的价值。与瓦伦丁的密切关系促成了SV Angel与红杉资本在早期阶段的紧密联系。他还分享了一个关于他与瓦伦丁去世前最后一次见面的感人故事,展示了瓦伦丁的幽默和精神,并突出了与汤姆·布雷迪合作为他创作一段难忘视频的经历。 康威强调了领域专业知识在天使投资中的重要性。他讨论了与技术分析师本·罗森合作,专注于互联网早期的互联网软件公司。这一战略决策促成了交易流网络的建立,并使他们能够专注于一个潜力巨大的领域。康威强调创始人也需要获得深厚的领域专业知识。他详细介绍了获取知识的策略,包括与行业分析师(如来自 Hambrick and Quest,高盛和摩根士丹利)和媒体人士(如来自 Red Herring 的 Tony Perkins)建立联系。他还赞扬了像 Esther Dyson 这样的有影响力的人对早期会议成功所做出的贡献。这些战略关系帮助康威在快速发展的互联网领域保持领先地位。 讨论转向了网景(Netscape),康威认为这家公司开启了互联网时代。他分享了他是如何通过朋友兼网景顾问迈克·霍默了解到网景的。康威认识到网景有潜力为访问网络信息提供一个用户友好的界面。尽管他无法直接投资网景的初始轮融资,但他优先考虑成为该公司生态系统的一部分。他回顾了网景IPO在验证互联网作为一个主要产业方面的重大意义。 康威强调了网景对开源运动的贡献。他强调了网景拥抱开源软件对降低有抱负的互联网企业家进入门槛的影响。这一转变使更多的工程师能够开发创新公司,而无需承担高昂的成本。 本集节目以对迈克·霍默的深切致敬结束,强调了他在塑造网景成功中发挥的关键作用。康威以提醒大家网景为互联网留下的遗产结束了这一集。 这最终导致了如何搜索网景解锁的信息的解决方案。

In the second installment of the "Social Radars" podcast, hosts Jessica Livingston and Carolyn Levy continue their conversation with Silicon Valley legend Ron Conway. The episode opens with a reflection on the Y Combinator Alumni Retreat, where Conway connected with numerous founders, reaffirming his passion for supporting and advocating for them. He shares an anecdote about defending Mark Zuckerberg against a perceived unfair interview by Kara Swisher, highlighting SV Angel's unwavering commitment to founders. Conway's reflections at the retreat also reminded him of how important relationships were in Silicon Valley, and how interconnected it had become starting with the semiconductor industry, the hardware industry, then software, the internet, and then AI, all of which spawned the next generation of executives. The conversation then shifts to Conway's early angel investing career. He describes taking a sabbatical from Altos Computer to spend time with his family, during which he began dabbling in angel investing. His first investment was in Natural Language Incorporated (NLI), an early AI company well ahead of its time. Conway details navigating NLI's potential acquisition by Microsoft, emphasizing his advocacy for the company and his urgency to secure a deal to ensure its survival. The success story of some NLI engineers staying at Microsoft for years highlights the culture of nurturing innovation there. Conway recounts his return to Altos Computer and his eventual decision to transition to full-time angel investing. Don Valentine, the founder of Sequoia Capital, played a crucial role in this decision, mentoring Conway and providing insights into mentoring founders. Conway highlights the value of shadowing Valentine at board meetings, observing his approach to guiding entrepreneurs. This close relationship with Valentine led to a strong connection between SV Angel and Sequoia in the early days. He further shares a touching story about his last meeting with Valentine before his passing, showcasing Valentine's humor and spirit, and highlighting a collaboration with Tom Brady to create a memorable video for him. Conway emphasizes the importance of domain expertise in angel investing. He discusses partnering with Ben Rosen, a technology analyst, to focus on internet software companies in the early days of the internet. This strategic decision led to the creation of a deal flow network and allowed them to focus on a high-potential area. Conway underscores the need for founders to also acquire deep domain expertise. He details strategies for gaining knowledge, including building relationships with industry analysts (such as from Hambrick and Quest, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley) and media personalities (like Tony Perkins from Red Herring). He also credits influencers like Esther Dyson for the early conference success. These strategic relationships helped Conway stay ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving internet landscape. The discussion moves to Netscape, the company Conway believes unlocked the internet. He shares how he learned about Netscape through Mike Homer, a friend and consultant at the company. Conway recognized Netscape's potential to provide a user-friendly interface for accessing information on the web. Although he was unable to invest directly in Netscape's initial round, he prioritized becoming part of the company's ecosystem. He recounts the significance of the Netscape IPO in validating the internet as a major industry. Conway highlights Netscape's contribution to the open-source movement. He stresses the impact of Netscape's embrace of open-source software in lowering the barrier to entry for aspiring internet entrepreneurs. This shift enabled more engineers to develop innovative companies without incurring high costs. The episode concludes with a poignant tribute to Mike Homer, emphasizing his critical role in shaping Netscape's success. Conway ends the episode by reminding everyone the legacy that Netscape gave to the internet. This eventually led to solving how to search for information that Netscape unlocked.