Ron Conway

I woke up this morning to see venture capitalist Ben Horowitz and Mike Arrington are focusing on Ron Conway’s importance to the start-up ecosystem. Ron is an angel investor whom I have known forever — there is hardly a start-up that hasn’t met him at some point or the other. I first met Ron in the early days of Google. However, it was during the heyday of Red Herring I really got to hang with him, especially in Tahoe. He was, as he is, still the same — jovial, generous and ever smiling.

While others might focus on Ron’s start-up chops, my most vivid memory has nothing to do with start-ups or his investments. In fact, it had nothing to do with tech. Instead, it is about his charities. When I was hospitalized after my heart attack, upon recovery I saw the image of Ron on one of the walls of the UCSF Hospital. For a minute I thought I was hallucinating. My friend Pooj said I was not. We had a laugh about it — agreeing that there is but one Ron and he is everywhere. Continue reading “The Importance of Ron”