Don Valentine

Extracted Attributes

• Nickname

  Grandfather of Silicon Valley venture capital

• Full Name

  Donald Thomas Valentine

• Known For

  Founder of Sequoia Capital

• Alma Mater

  Fordham University (BA)

• Occupation

  Venture Capitalist, Businessperson

• Age at Death

  87 years old

• Date of Birth

  1932-06-26

• Date of Death

  2019-10-25

• Place of Birth

  New York City, U.S.

• Place of Death

  Woodside, California, U.S.

• Key Contribution

  Played a key role in the formation of industries such as semiconductors, personal computers, personal computer software, digital entertainment, and networking

• Investment Philosophy

  Backing unconventional entrepreneurs, believing the greatest founders are often exceptional but 'not so easy to get along with'

Timeline

• Born Donald Thomas Valentine in New York City, U.S. (Source: summary, Wikidata, Wikipedia)

  1932-06-26

• Founded Sequoia Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. (Source: Wikipedia, web_search_results)

  1972

• Wrote the essay 'Real VCs help build great companies'. (Source: web_search_results)

  2000

• Featured in the documentary film 'Something Ventured'. (Source: web_search_results)

  2011

• Died at his home in Woodside, California, U.S. at the age of 87. (Source: summary, Wikidata, Wikipedia, web_search_results)

  2019-10-25

Don Valentine

Donald Thomas Valentine (June 26, 1932 – October 25, 2019) was an American venture capitalist who concentrated mainly on technology companies in the United States. As the founder of Sequoia Capital, he has been referred to as the "grandfather of Silicon Valley venture capital". 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."

Web Search Results

• Don Valentine - Wikipedia

  Donald Thomas Valentine (June 26, 1932 – October 25, 2019) was an American venture capitalist who concentrated mainly on technology companies in the United States. As the founder of Sequoia Capital, he has been referred to as the "grandfather of Silicon Valley venture capital". 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." [...] Jump to content # Don Valentine فارسی Italiano مصرى 日本語 Simple English Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски 中文 Edit links From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia American venture capitalist (1932–2019) | Don Valentine | | --- | | Valentine in 2009 | | | Born | (1932-06-26)June 26, 1932 New York City, U.S. | | Died | October 25, 2019(2019-10-25) (aged 87) Woodside, California, U.S. | | Alma mater | Fordham University (BA) | | Occupation | Venture Capitalist | [...] 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. Valentine was featured in the documentary film Something Ventured which premiered in 2011. ## Death [edit]

• Don Valentine, Founder of Sequoia Capital, Is Dead at 87

  Don Valentine, a venture capitalist who founded Sequoia Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that helped cement the area’s rise as a technology hub, died on Friday at his home in Woodside, Calif. He was 87. Mr. Valentine died of natural causes, a spokeswoman for Sequoia said. [...] A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 27, 2019, Section A, Page 26 of the New York edition with the headline: Don Valentine, 87, Investor Who Shaped Silicon Valley . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe See more on: Sequoia Capital Share full article Related Content Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Site Index Site Information Navigation ©2025 The New York Times Company [...] Don Valentine, Founder of Sequoia Capital, Is Dead at 87 Share full article Image 1 Don Valentine at a technology conference in 2013. Sequoia Capital, which he founded in 1972, invested in companies including Oracle, Apple and Cisco Systems.Credit...Steve Jennings/Getty Images By Erin Griffith Oct. 25, 2019

• Real VCs help build great companies by Don Valentine

  The Founders' Tribune logo # Real VCs help build great companies by Don Valentine ## Don Valentine is the founder of Sequoia Capital. Author Don Valentine January 12, 2025 Don Valentine is the founder of Sequoia Capital. He wrote this essay in the year 2000. The short-term, get-rich-quick mentality particularly plagues our local entrepreneurs, specifically the over-educated MBA contingent.

• Don Valentine, Sequoia Capital: "Target Big Markets" - YouTube

  ### Description 269635 views Posted: 11 Oct 2010 Since founding Sequoia Capital in 1972, Don Valentine has financed many of the companies (Apple, Oracle, Electronic Arts, NVIDIA, Cisco, Google, YouTube, etc.) that have been Silicon Valley's biggest technology and business success stories. In this View From The Top talk, he describes some of the insights that allowed him to lead Sequoia through almost four decades of disruptive changes, creating several new industries along the way.

• Sequoia's Don Valentine: What Problem are you Solving?

  Leadership & Management 4 min read # Sequoia’s Don Valentine: What Problem are you Solving? October 1, 2010 | by Joyce Routson Share on X Share on Linkedin Share on Facebook Share on Email Copy Link Copied to clipboard Don Valentine, founder of Sequoia Capital, likes brevity — short presentations, short questions. But he’s long on results.

• Image

  

• Gender

  male

• Educated At

  Fordham University

• Instance Of

  Q5

• Occupation

  businessperson

• Citizenship

  United States

• Date Of Birth

  6/26/1932

• Date Of Death

  10/25/2019

• Place Of Birth

  New York City

• Place Of Death

  Woodside

Donald Thomas Valentine (June 26, 1932 – October 25, 2019) was an American venture capitalist who concentrated mainly on technology companies in the United States. He had been referred to as the "grandfather of Silicon Valley venture capital". 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."