Ron Conway
Founder and Co-Managing Partner of SV Angel
Discussion
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Ron Conway
@ronconway · Founder, SV Angel
I’m the Founder and Co-Managing Partner of SV Angel, a San Francisco-based angel firm that has invested in internet software companies for 22 years including Paypal, Google, Facebook, and Twitter. In recent years, investments include Airbnb, Pinterest, Square, Snapchat, Dropbox and many others. I founded sf.citi (San Francisco’s tech-backed civic organization) and am an advocate for technology companies and civic engagement in San Francisco. I’m also an advocate for gun safety and immigration reform (I am a co-founder of FWD.US). Ask me anything!
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Ryan Hoover
@rrhoover · Founder, Product Hunt
Hi, Ron! You've invested in hundreds of companies in various industries. What space do you think is most neglected that you'd like to see more entrepreneurs explore?
Thomas Stöcklein
@tomstocklein · FoundersFundersFuture.com
What are the most common pitch mistakes entrepreneurs make when trying to raise money from SV Angel?
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Ron Conway
@ronconway · Founder, SV Angel
@tomstocklein some thoughts – exaggerating, one founder talking over the other founder, not having a concise elevator pitch, not being able to clearly describe the product – you need to do that within the first minute while you're talking
Thomas Stöcklein
@tomstocklein · FoundersFundersFuture.com
@ronconway Thanks, Ron! That's great advice. It sounds so obvious, but I can see how some founders get carried away and forget about the basics.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
Hey Ron!
What are you favourite questions to ask founders?
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Ron Conway
@ronconway · Founder, SV Angel
@bentossell How'd you come up with the idea...what inspired you. How did you pick your cofounders. What is your background & upbringing.
Avery
@averyalchek · Business Operations, Mashable
How do you separate a pitch of a good product from a pitch with a good salesman?
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Ron Conway
@ronconway · Founder, SV Angel
@averyalchek the whole SV Angel team uses the products. We look for the founder to be a good fit for the business – founder/market fit is important....after talking to founders for 20 years I can pick up on who is genuine and who is not. I have a lot of pattern recognition that the SV Angel team has now picked up on since they have all been with me for 5+ years
Alexander Parker
@awesomeafalex
Do you think that startups working in the gun safety space are being given enough attention?
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Ron Conway
@ronconway · Founder, SV Angel
@awesomeafalex they will never get enough attention until we have safe guns as the norm throughout America. See the Smart Tech Challenge website – https://smarttechfoundation.org . There is an 18 year old in Colorado, Kai Kloepfer, who is designing a smart gun – this is just the beginning. He is the Mark Zuckerberg for guns.
Thomas Stöcklein
@tomstocklein · FoundersFundersFuture.com
What is your best advice for aspiring venture capitalists who have no money?
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Ron Conway
@ronconway · Founder, SV Angel
@tomstocklein A lot of the best VCs came from startups themselves, so that's a great way to get started
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
What was the best and worst pitch you've seen?
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Ron Conway
@ronconway · Founder, SV Angel
@bentossell I can't recall the specific companies but it's when founders talk over each other in the pitch and have a different vision for the company
George Mills
@gfcmills · Investor at BGF Ventures
Hi Ron, for those of us outside SV: Which company are you most excited about now than none of us even know about?
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Ron Conway
@ronconway · Founder, SV Angel
@gfcmills off the top of my head, check out Peach (peach.cool), Hooked (hooked.co), Brighten (brighten.in), TripleByte (triplebyte.com)....and Product Hunt of course, it's the place to find more!!!
Michael Goldman
@mightbemg · The Farmer's Dog
@ronconway @austinkevitch Big shout out, keep it up!
Kyle Hendrick
@w_kylehendrick · Founder & General Partner
Ron I understand you are passionate about smart cities. Have you ever had the chance to see up and coming smart cities like Dubai, Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, Singapore, etc?
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Ron Conway
@ronconway · Founder, SV Angel
@w_kylehendrick I think what Sidewalk Labs is doing is very cool and innovative, it's part of Google. I really don't know about the other cities you called out