Fred Wilson (born August 20, 1961) is an American businessman, venture capitalist and blogger. Wilson is the co-founder of Union Square Ventures, a New York City-based venture capital firm with investments in Web 2.0 companies such as Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare, Zynga, Kickstarter, Etsy and MongoDB.[1]
Fred Wilson | |
|---|---|
 Fred Wilson 2009 | |
| Born | August 20, 1961 |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania |
| Known for | Blogging, venture capital |
Career
editFred Wilson began his career as an associate and then became a General Partner at Euclid Partners. He worked at Euclid Partners from 1987 to 1996.[citation needed]
In 1996 Wilson and Jerry Colonna began Flatiron Partners, which was named after the Flatiron District.[citation needed] Based in New York City, it grew into an investment fund that focused primarily on follow-on investing, with investments in notable dot-com bubble successes and failures, including Alacra, comScore Networks, Yoyodyne, Geocities, Kozmo.com, The New York Times Digital, PlanetOut, Return Path, Scout electromedia, Standard Media International, Starmedia, Favemail, and VitaminShoppe.com.[2] The firm's 1996 fund capitalized at $150 million with two investors: SOFTBANK Technology Ventures and Chase Capital Partners, the private-equity arm of Chase Manhattan Corp. The firm later raised another fund capitalized at $500 million with Chase Capital Partners as the sole active LP.[3] In 2001 Wilson and Colonna shut down Flatiron.[4]
In 2004 Wilson and Brad Burnham founded Union Square Ventures. TheFunded.com, a social networking site for technology entrepreneurs, rated him their favorite venture capitalist in 2007.[5]
Wilson was a judge for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's NYC BigApps competition in NYC.[6]
Blogging
editWilson publishes a blog called AVC: musings of a VC in NYC.[7] Wilson publishes one post per day, usually on a topic related to venture capital entrepreneurship or the Internet.[8]
Personal life
editWilson attended high school at James I. O'Neill High School. Wilson is married to Joanne Wilson, a prominent angel investor and author of the Gotham Gal blog.[9] They have three children and live in New York City and Venice Beach. All of his children attended Wesleyan University.
Wilson has a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[10]
He is an active philanthropist and community advocate having worked on initiatives including the redevelopment of Union Square and Madison Square in New York City.[citation needed] He is also a board member of DonorsChoose.org, an online charity that connects individuals to classrooms in need. Currently, Wilson is involved in the Pier 40 Partnership.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Top venture capitalist Fred Wilson reveals why he's investing in media while others are fleeing: 'I like to zig when other people zag'". Business Insider. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
- ^ Lau, Debra (May 17, 2001). "Flatiron Partners Called Back Home". Forbes. Retrieved March 4, 2008.
- ^ Greene, Bob (Spring 2001). "Flatiron Partners: Presentation to MIT" (PPT). Retrieved March 4, 2008.
- ^ Heilemann, John (July 1, 2005). "Start Spreading the News". Business 2.0. CNN Money. Retrieved March 4, 2008.
- ^ "A New Kind of Venture Capitalist Makes Small Bets on Young Firms", The New York Times September 21, 2008, a short profile of Union Square Ventures and Fred Wilson
- ^ "MAYOR BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF NYC BIGAPPS 2.0 COMPETITION". NYC.gov. 31 March 2011. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ "The Top 20 VC Power Bloggers of 2010", TechCrunch January 19, 2011,
- ^ "VC Blogs You Should Follow (And Why): Fred Wilson", Forbes December 18, 2012
- ^ [dead link]Wilson: The Gotham Gal who invests in women Entrepreneurship "[permanent dead link], PandoDaily April 16, 2013,
- ^ "About / Fred Wilson". USV Fred Wilson bio page. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
- ^ Anderson, Lincoln (October 3, 2007). "Parents group means business on Pier 40's future". The Villager. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
External links
edit- Union Square Ventures
- A VC Blog – Fred Wilson's blog.