American venture capitalist (1932–2019)
Don Valentine
Valentine in 2009
Born (1932-06-26 ) June 26, 1932Died October 25, 2019(2019-10-25) (aged 87) Alma mater
Fordham University (
BA ) Occupation Venture Capitalist
Donald Thomas Valentine (June 26, 1932 – October 25, 2019) was an American
venture capitalist who concentrated mainly on technology companies in the United States.
[1] As the founder of
Sequoia Capital , he has been referred to as the "grandfather of
Silicon Valley venture capital".
[2]
[3] The
Computer History Museum credited him as playing "a key role in the formation of a number of industries such as semiconductors, personal computers, personal computer software, digital entertainment and networking."
[4]
Career
Valentine grew up in
the Bronx, New York , was Catholic, and came from a family with Danish background. He went to
Mount Saint Michael Academy .
[5] After graduating with a B.A. from
Fordham University ,
[6] Valentine began his career as a sales engineer at
Raytheon . He was in the position for less than a year before moving on to
Fairchild Semiconductor , where he built up the sales force for seven years. He left and joined
National Semiconductor , working as a senior sales and marketing executive.
[3]
[7]
[8]
In 1972, Valentine founded venture capital firm
Sequoia Capital .
[3]
[9] Initially, the company focused on early venture investments with small, risky tech companies.
[10] Sequoia's first investment was in
Atari in 1975 before the company was sold for $28 million to
Warner Communications .
[11] Sequoia was one of the original investors of
Apple Computer and
Atari after Valentine met
Steve Jobs when he was a line engineer for Atari,
[12]
[13] and in 1978, Sequoia invested $150,000 in
Apple Inc.
[14] Sequoia Capital has also made early investments in companies including
LSI Logic ,
Oracle Corporation ,
Cisco ,
Electronic Arts ,
Google ,
YouTube and many others.
[1]
Valentine was a chairman of
NetApp and Traiana. He served on the boards of many other technology companies including
Apple ,
Atari ,
C-Cube ,
Cisco Systems ,
Electronic Arts ,
Linear Technology ,
LSI Logic ,
Microchip Technology ,
NetApp ,
Oracle ,
PMC-Sierra .
[9]
[15] Valentine was featured in the documentary film
Something Ventured which premiered in 2011.
[16]
Death
Valentine died on October 25, 2019, at age 87.
[17] He is survived by three children and seven grandchildren who all live in the
Bay Area .
References
^
a
b
"Donald T. Valentine" .
Bloomberg .
Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019 .
^ Gilbert, Alorie (November 27, 2004).
"Legendary venture capitalist looks ahead" . CNET News.
Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2011 .
^
a
b
c Karlgaard, Rich (December 9, 2005).
"Don Valentine, Venture Capitalist" . Forbes .
Archived from the original on September 4, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2017 .
^
"Donald T. Valentine" . Computer History Museum. Archived from
the original on August 15, 2011.
^
"Legends" . Mount Saint Michael Academy . Retrieved October 28, 2019 .
^
"Donald T. Valentine – Executive Bio, Compensation History, and Contacts – Equilar Atlas" . people.equilar.com . Archived from
the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2015 .
^ Ingram, Matthew (October 14, 2010).
"Lessons From Silicon Valley VC Legend Don Valentine" . Gigaom.
Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2013 .
^
"Donald T. Valentine | Computer History Museum" . www.computerhistory.org .
Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015 .
^
a
b
"Donald T. Valentine: Executive Profile & Biography – Businessweek" . Businessweek.com .
Archived from the original on January 7, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2015 .
^
too-far/ Sequoia branches too far
Archived January 24, 2017, at the
Wayback Machine , Adam Lashinsky, October 23, 2009, Fortune , retrieved August 24, 2016
^ A History of Silicon Valley by Arun Rao, Cambridge: MIT Press, 2010.
^
Something Ventured' tells story of tech investors
Archived March 10, 2016, at the
Wayback Machine , Julian Guthrie, April 18, 2011, SFGate , retrieved March 23, 2016
^ Return to the Little Kingdom by Michael Moritz, 2009, The Overlook Press.
^ A History of Silicon Valley by Arun Rao, 2010, Cambridge: MIT Press.
^
"Sequoia – Donald Valentine" . Sequoia Capital .
Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019 .
^ Rao, Leena (August 6, 2013).
"Something Ventured: VC Titans Don Valentine And Tom Perkins Will Take The Stage At Disrupt SF" . TechCrunch .
Archived from the original on May 28, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2015 .
^ Griffith, Erin (October 25, 2019).
"Don Valentine, Founder of Sequoia Capital, Is Dead at 87" . The New York Times .
Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2019 .
External links
Investment strategy
History Investor types