隆?康威是硅谷傳奇。他是谷歌、愛彼迎、Square和Pinterest的早期天使投資者,也讓這位投資者成為了科技公司的“超級天使”之一。然而,他也有不少失手的時候,而且他是第一位承認(rèn)此事的投資者。
12月2日,康威在《財富》線上頭腦科技風(fēng)暴會議的專家討論會上說:“這項業(yè)務(wù)就是去追逐熱點公司。在所有我們投資的公司中,約有60%破產(chǎn),我們一分錢也拿不到;約有30%有望回本;只有剩下微不足道的10%-20%,我們才能賺到錢,但也足以抵消我們虧掉的所有錢?!?/p>
康威說,盡管經(jīng)常虧損,但真正最具啟發(fā)意義的教訓(xùn)莫過于那些破產(chǎn)的企業(yè)。他最常提到的例子是哪個?那就是聲名掃地的音樂下載巨人Napster。
“那時,Napster是地球上最知名的科技公司,也是最具顛覆性的公司。但唱片公司廠牌以及公司投資者對自身利益的關(guān)注讓這家公司陷入了水深火熱之中,”康威說,“然而,所有流媒體服務(wù)則在浴火后重生。Spotify便是Napster聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人肖恩?帕克跳槽后打造的另一家公司。如今,流媒體可謂是隨處可見?!?/p>
康威認(rèn)為谷歌是他到目前為止最成功的投資,而且他聯(lián)合創(chuàng)建的公司SV Angel還投資了Facebook、Twitter和Snap。他說,成功的關(guān)鍵在于關(guān)系網(wǎng)。
他說:“打造關(guān)系網(wǎng)的方式就在于擁有好的名聲。在我投資的第一家公司時,我是這些創(chuàng)始人的堅實擁護者,然后這些創(chuàng)始人就將我介紹給了其他創(chuàng)始人?!?/p>
康威說:“創(chuàng)始人關(guān)系網(wǎng)就像是黑手黨。他們之間會相互交流,而且會分享哪些是增值型投資者,這一點對于SV Angel來說非常有利。我們一直埋頭苦干,公司的綽號就是‘支持創(chuàng)始人’”
康威還是一位知名的慈善家,并稱他當(dāng)前正專注于應(yīng)對新冠危機,并解決種族不公平問題。他說:“我們必須確保為有色人種創(chuàng)始人創(chuàng)建巨型公司提供環(huán)境。當(dāng)前有不少不錯的公司都在等待投資,而且這些公司的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者都是有色人種。收獲的時候到了?!?/p>
當(dāng)被問及他當(dāng)前他所關(guān)注的最令人振奮的趨勢時,康威提到了創(chuàng)建了三年的在線批發(fā)市場Faire。
他說:“他們未來可能會成為亞馬遜的競爭對手。在疫情期間,公司的交易量沒有絲毫下降,這一點很了不起。所有的天使投資者都異常地忙碌,而創(chuàng)始人也在以同樣的速度開設(shè)新的公司。我原以為速度會降下來,但一直都沒有。創(chuàng)始人可謂是不眠不休。”(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:梁宇
審校:夏林
隆?康威是硅谷傳奇。他是谷歌、愛彼迎、Square和Pinterest的早期天使投資者,也讓這位投資者成為了科技公司的“超級天使”之一。然而,他也有不少失手的時候,而且他是第一位承認(rèn)此事的投資者。
12月2日,康威在《財富》線上頭腦科技風(fēng)暴會議的專家討論會上說:“這項業(yè)務(wù)就是去追逐熱點公司。在所有我們投資的公司中,約有60%破產(chǎn),我們一分錢也拿不到;約有30%有望回本;只有剩下微不足道的10%-20%,我們才能賺到錢,但也足以抵消我們虧掉的所有錢?!?/p>
康威說,盡管經(jīng)常虧損,但真正最具啟發(fā)意義的教訓(xùn)莫過于那些破產(chǎn)的企業(yè)。他最常提到的例子是哪個?那就是聲名掃地的音樂下載巨人Napster。
“那時,Napster是地球上最知名的科技公司,也是最具顛覆性的公司。但唱片公司廠牌以及公司投資者對自身利益的關(guān)注讓這家公司陷入了水深火熱之中,”康威說,“然而,所有流媒體服務(wù)則在浴火后重生。Spotify便是Napster聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人肖恩?帕克跳槽后打造的另一家公司。如今,流媒體可謂是隨處可見?!?/p>
康威認(rèn)為谷歌是他到目前為止最成功的投資,而且他聯(lián)合創(chuàng)建的公司SV Angel還投資了Facebook、Twitter和Snap。他說,成功的關(guān)鍵在于關(guān)系網(wǎng)。
他說:“打造關(guān)系網(wǎng)的方式就在于擁有好的名聲。在我投資的第一家公司時,我是這些創(chuàng)始人的堅實擁護者,然后這些創(chuàng)始人就將我介紹給了其他創(chuàng)始人?!?/p>
康威說:“創(chuàng)始人關(guān)系網(wǎng)就像是黑手黨。他們之間會相互交流,而且會分享哪些是增值型投資者,這一點對于SV Angel來說非常有利。我們一直埋頭苦干,公司的綽號就是‘支持創(chuàng)始人’”
康威還是一位知名的慈善家,并稱他當(dāng)前正專注于應(yīng)對新冠危機,并解決種族不公平問題。他說:“我們必須確保為有色人種創(chuàng)始人創(chuàng)建巨型公司提供環(huán)境。當(dāng)前有不少不錯的公司都在等待投資,而且這些公司的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者都是有色人種。收獲的時候到了?!?/p>
當(dāng)被問及他當(dāng)前他所關(guān)注的最令人振奮的趨勢時,康威提到了創(chuàng)建了三年的在線批發(fā)市場Faire。
他說:“他們未來可能會成為亞馬遜的競爭對手。在疫情期間,公司的交易量沒有絲毫下降,這一點很了不起。所有的天使投資者都異常地忙碌,而創(chuàng)始人也在以同樣的速度開設(shè)新的公司。我原以為速度會降下來,但一直都沒有。創(chuàng)始人可謂是不眠不休?!保ㄘ敻恢形木W(wǎng))
譯者:梁宇
審校:夏林
Ron Conway is a Silicon Valley legend. He was an early angel investor in Google, Airbnb, Square, and Pinterest, earning the moniker of one of tech’s “super angels.” But he’s had his fair share of misses, too, and he’ll be the first to admit it.
“It’s definitely a hits-driven business,” Conway said on Wednesday, speaking on a panel at Fortune’s virtual Brainstorm Tech conference. “About 60% of all the companies we invest in go out of business; we don’t make a nickel. Another 30% of them, maybe we will get our money back. And it’s that slight balance, 10% to 20%, that you make more than you put in, and it’s enough to pay for all the ones that went out of business.”
Despite the frequent losses, Conway said, it’s the businesses that don’t succeed that end up providing the most illuminating lessons. A favorite example of his? The infamous music download giant Napster.
“In the day, it was the most well-known tech company on earth…Napster was the most disruptive company, but because of egos at the record company labels and egos at the investor level of the company, the company went down in flames,” Conway said. “However, coming out of the flames are all the streaming services. Spotify is a company that Sean Parker, the cofounder of Napster, went over and took another swing at. Now streaming is an everyday thing.”
Conway considers Google his most successful investment to date, and the firm he cofounded, SV Angel, has invested in Facebook, Twitter, and Snap, as well. The key to his success, he said, has been networking.
“How you build the network is having a good reputation,” he said. “The first company I invested in, I stood by those founders, and then those founders recommended me to other founders.
“The founder network is kind of like the Mafia,” Conway added. “They all talk to each other, and they tell each other who the value-adding investors are, and that’s been very good for SV Angel. We keep our nose to the grindstone. Our moniker is ‘Advocates for founders.’”
Conway is also a noted philanthropist and said he’s currently focusing his efforts on the COVID crisis and addressing racial inequity. “We need to make sure there’s an environment for founders of color to build huge companies,” he said. “There’s a whole new pond of great companies waiting to be fished with founders of color leading them. We need to go harvest that pond.”
Asked about the most exciting trend he’s looking at right now, Conway pointed to Faire, the three-year-old online wholesale marketplace.
“They could be a contender for Amazon someday. [It’s] amazing, through the pandemic, the amount of deal flow has not reduced at all,” he said. “All of the angel investors are as busy as ever, and founders are starting new companies at the very same pace. I thought there would be a slowdown, but there has not been. Founders never sleep.”