The Man Who Paved the Way for Silicon Valley
Alan Patricof is a legendary venture capitalist and one of the field’s early pioneers. Now founder and managing director of leading venture firm Greycroft Partners, Alan has been instrumental in the development of the venture capital field since its infancy.
After beginning his investing career in the 1950’s, Alan gained notoriety as one of the original backers of New York Magazine, serving as its founding chairman of the board. Capitalizing on this success, Alan founded one of the first venture capital firms, Patricof Company Ventures, in 1969, and then Apax Partners, in 1977, the latter of which grew to become one of the largest private equity firms worldwide. Today, he focuses on earlystage venture capital investing with Greycroft.
Crain’s New York Hall of Fame has said that Alan, “Paved the way for Silicon Valley.” Considering his earlystage financing for goliaths like Apple, America Online, Cadence Systems, and Office Depot, to name a few, this is largely true. Alan was named by President Obama to the Millennium Challenge Corporation in 2007, has served as an advisor to the IFC, worked as a member on the UNDP’s Commission on the Private Sector and Development, and served as chairman of the White House Conference on Small Business Administration.
Alan earned an M.B.A from Columbia’s Graduate School of Business in 1957.