Master of 500 Hats: About Dave McClure

[Not So Short Bio]

Dave McClure has been geeking out in Silicon Valley for over twenty years as a software developer, entrepreneur, startup advisor, angel investor, blogger, and internet marketing nerd. Dave currently runs FF Angel, a seed-stage investment program for Founders Fund, and also manages the fbFund REV incubator program on behalf of Facebook, Accel Partners, and Founders Fund.

Dave's passion is helping startups with marketing, product strategy, and startup metrics, and he is an advisor or investor for over 30 companies including: Mint.com (acquired by Intuit), CreditKarma, KissMetrics, Mashery, RichRelevance, Simply Hired, SlideShare, TeachStreet, and Twilio.

Dave is the co-founder of both Startup2Startup and Finance4Founders, monthly dinner meetings for Silicon Valley startup entrepreneurs & investors. He also leads a travel group called GeeksOnaPlane which enables cultural exchange and education for tech entrepreneurs around the world. Dave has been a conference organizer for many tech and startup events including STARTonomics, Graphing Social Patterns, and Web 2.0 Expo (SF), and has been a guest lecturer on social network platforms & applications at Stanford University. Dave has been a board member for microfinance accelerator Unitus, advisor to microfinance lender Kiva.org, and co-founder of the Silicon Valley Microfinance Network.

Previously Dave launched and ran marketing for job search engine Simply Hired, and its evil twin SimplyFired.com. From 2001 to 2004, Dave worked at PayPal (acquired by eBay in 2002) as Director of Marketing, where he started the PayPal Developer Network program. Prior to PayPal, Dave was a database consultant & programmer for several companies, including Microsoft and Intel. In 1994 he founded Aslan Computing, an internet & e-commerce consulting group later acquired by Servinet / Panurgy in 1998.

Before coming to Silicon Valley, Dave barely graduated from the Johns Hopkins University with a BS Engineering in Mathematical Sciences and a minor in frisbee, billiards, & foosball. His interests include microfinance and economic innovation, entrepreneurship and venture capital, ultimate frisbee, cartoons and animation, and an ever-growing collection of funny-looking hats.

For more info visit Dave's LinkedIn profile or his blog: Master of 500 Hats.

[Extended Bio / Professional Experience]

From 1989 to 1994, Dave was a systems analyst and database consultant for several San Francisco-based software and client-server consulting companies. In 1993, Dave was hired as a consultant by Microsoft to assist with development of a mission-critical capacity planning system application for Intel. Dave worked with both Intel and Microsoft to help manage the production system for use by Intel fab and manufacturing facilities around the world.

In 1994 Dave founded Aslan Computing, an Internet and eCommerce consulting startup. Aslan grew out of a basement and garage to become a 20-person company with offices in San Francisco and Palo Alto. In 1997 Aslan won Microsoft's Solution Provider of the Year award for Northern California. Aslan completed projects for clients including Intel, Netscape, Microsoft, The Gap, Intuit, Stanford University, eGain, and VentureOne, among others. In January 1998 Aslan was acquired by Servinet Consulting Group and Dave became Director of Servinet's Internet Business Unit. Dave continued working with Servinet (later acquired by Panurgy) through summer 1999. From 1999 to 2001, Dave worked with several startups as an advisor, consultant, or employee including Imparto (acquired by Primus), MyWebtivity, Commercia (acquired by Microsoft), WiseConnect (acquired by BayLogics), IQ Funds, Global Workforce, AppStream, and MollyGuard/Xoom.

In 2001 Dave joined PayPal as Director of Marketing. There he started & launched the PayPal Developer Network, a technical marketing & education program supporting over 300,000 merchants & web developers, and also managed strategic partnerships with Macromedia and Microsoft. PayPal celebrated its IPO in the spring of 2002, and was later acquired by eBay in the fall of that year. In 2003 Dave joined the new PayPal Merchant Services Business Unit, and helped set business and product strategy for PayPal services to small- and medium-sized businesses online. In 2004 Dave arranged a partnership with O'Reilly Media to produce "PayPal Hacks", a book on PayPal web services & eCommerce in the O'Reilly "Hacks" technical education series.

In 2005 Dave joined SimplyHired.com, the world's largest search engine for jobs from all over the web. Dave ran marketing and helped develop product strategy, branding, and overall look & feel for the site launch and subsequent releases thru 2006. Dave arranged the company's strategic partnership with LinkedIn, and also managed the launch of the company's tongue-in-cheek site SimplyFired.com, which achieved national press coverage. In 2005 Simply Hired was named a "Top 50 Coolest Website" by Time magazine, and "Best of the Web" for employment websites by Business Week. Dave is now an investor & advisor to the company.

In 2006 Dave was tapped by O'Reilly Media as a founding co-chair for the first Web 2.0 Expo conference held in San Francisco in April 2007. Dave also founded & produced the Graphing Social Patterns conference (also an O'Reilly production) which was first held in San Jose in October 2007. In fall of 2007 Dave became a guest lecturer at Stanford University, and was a co-instructor with Professor BJ Fogg for Persuasive Apps & Metrics, the nation's first-ever course on Facebook App development. In May of 2008 Dave founded Startup2Startup, a series of monthly dinner meetings for Silicon Valley startup entrepreneurs to help learn about technology & business from each other. In October 2008 Dave partnered with Dealmaker Media to create STARTonomics, focused on helping startups create simple, actionable metrics for success. In June 2009, Dave led the first GeeksOnaPlane tour, which brought 25 geeks to Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai to learn about tech entrepreneurship in East Asia.

In December 2008, Dave joined Founders Fund to run the FF Angel seed-stage investment program. In summer 2009 he also managed and led investments for the fbFund REV social incubator, a joint venture by Facebook, Accel Partners, and Founders Fund.

Dave's current passion is helping startups with product strategy, internet marketing, and startup metrics. He is an investor or advisor to over 30 startups including: Mint.com (acquired by Intuit), CreditKarma, KissMetrics, Mashery, RichRelevance, Simply Hired, SlideShare, TeachStreet, and Twilio.

[Silicon Valley Community / Personal Interest]

Helping Geeks & Entrepreneurs. From 1995-2003, Dave served on the executive council of the Software Development Forum (SDForum), a non-profit organization helping to connect and educate Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and technologists. From 1996-1999, Dave was a board member for the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs (SVASE), and was president of SVASE from '98-'99. From 1998-2000, Dave was founder & chairperson of the Silicon Valley eCommerce SIG, an industry user group focused on eCommerce technology, solutions, and best practices. From 2001-2002, Dave founded and was co-chair of the SDForum Venture Finance SIG. From 2005-2006, Dave was founder & co-chair of the SDForum Search SIG, a usergroup covering internet search technology and companies. Starting in 2008, Dave began running Startup2Startup, a monthly dinner series for Silicon Valley startups, entrepreneurs, and investors.

Think Globally. Dave has a significant interest & involvement in microfinance & microcredit. In 2004 Dave began helping Unitus, a venture accelerator for microfinance institutions around the world, to help spread awareness in the SF Bay Area & to educate people on the tremendous opportunity Unitus sees to eradicate poverty in our lifetime. Dave served as a Unitus board member from 2005 thru 2009. In 2006 Dave became an advisor to Kiva.org, an internet-based microfinance startup that helps lend money to entrepreneurs & the working poor in developing countries. In 2009 Dave became an advisor to Vittana, which enables access to peer-to-peer education loans for students around the world.

Act Locally. In 2005, Dave became a founder & board member for the Silicon Valley Microfinance Network (SVMN), a local user group that covers topics & issues in microfinance. In 2004 Dave joined the Full Circle Fund, a non-profit foundation dedicated to helping people in the local SF Bay Area with specific issues in Education, Affordable Housing, and Technology Access. Dave has been a member of Full Circle's Technology Impact Circle.

Life & Love. Dave now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dave barely graduated from the Johns Hopkins University in 1988, with a BS in Mathematical Sciences Engineering and a minor in frisbee, billiards, and foosball. His interests and hobbies vary widely, including microfinance and economic innovation, entrepreneurship and venture capital, jazz and classical music, politics and business, numerous sports and games, ultimate frisbee, cartoons and animation, and an ever-growing collection of funny-looking hats...