Dave McClure
McClure in August 2007
Born1966 or 1967 (age 56–57)[1]
West Virginia, United States
EducationJohns Hopkins University (BS)
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, angel investor

David "Dave" McClure is an entrepreneur and angel investor based in the San Francisco Bay Area, who founded the business accelerator 500 Startups (now 500 Global),and served as its CEO until his resignation in 2017.[2][3] He founded Practical Venture Capital soon after, a new venture capital fund that would continue to work with companies he previously funded through 500 Startups.[4]

Biography

McClure was born in Morgantown, West Virginia and grew up in Columbia, Maryland.[5] He graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Engineering.[6]

Technology startups

McClure founded Aslan Computing, a technology consultancy, in 1994, and sold the company to Servinet/Panurgy in 1998. He subsequently worked as a technology consultant to Microsoft, Intel and other high-tech companies. McClure was director of marketing at PayPal from 2001 through 2004. He then launched and ran marketing for Simply Hired in 2005 and 2006.[7]

After leaving PayPal, McClure became a frequent investor in consumer Internet startup companies, investing in and advising more than 15 consumer internet startups, including virtual goods monetization and payments platform Jambool (acquired by Google in 2010) and US online education directory TeachStreet (acquired by Amazon in 2011). During the summer of 2009, McClure was acting investment director for Facebook fbFund (a joint venture incubator/accelerator with prominent venture capital firms Founders Fund and Accel Partners), which provided early-stage capital to startups using Facebook Platform & Facebook Connect.[8]

In 2010, McClure founded 500 Startups (now 500 Global), a seed accelerator and related investment fund.[9]

McClure gained attention both for his opinionated blog 500 Hats (as of 2011 one of the ten most-read blogs on venture capital finance),[10] and as one of the so-called "Super Angel" investors[11] involved in the Angelgate controversy.[12][13]

Sexual Harassment Allegations

In 2017, McClure was identified in a New York Times article, with Sacca, about sexual harassment in venture capital. He was described as sending sexually inappropriate messages to a female investor, who later sought employment at his company.[14] In response, he stepped down from day-to-day management in a post titled "I'm a Creep. I'm Sorry".[15] He then denied the accusations and retracted his apology in another post that was then deleted.[16] A few days later, McClure severed all ties with 500 Startups, resigning as general partner as well.[17] Hours after McClure resigned, a fresh allegation surfaced against him, this time of sexual assault.[18]

McClure later created a new venture capital fund, Practical Venture Capital, which aims to buy equity in companies he funded through 500 Startups.[19]

References

  1. ↑ McClure, Dave. "late bloomer, not a loser. (I hope)". 500hats.com. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  2. ↑ "I'm a Creep. I'm Sorry. – 500 Hats". 500 Hats. 2017-07-01. Archived from the original on 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  3. ↑ "Exclusive: Dave McClure resigns as general partner of 500 Startups funds". Axios. 2017-07-03. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  4. ↑ Aragon, Lawrence (March 18, 2020). "500 startups founder launches VC secondaries fund". Secondary Investors. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "From The Vault Dave McClure (500 Startups)". www.startupgrind.com. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  6. ↑ "Venture capitalist Dave McClure plays the odds when picking his next investment". The Hub. 2015-06-04. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  7. ↑ "Dave McClure, Master of 500 Hats". Web 2.0 Summit. Archived from the original on 2016-04-01. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
  8. ↑ "Dave McClure", LinkedIn profile.
  9. ↑ Rosoff, Matt (February 11, 2011). "Exclusive: The Controversial Dave McClure Tells All". Business Insider.
  10. ↑ Austin, Scott (January 20, 2011). "The Most-Read Blogs by Venture Capitalists". Wall Street Journal.
  11. ↑ Saint, Nick (October 4, 2010). "Who Are The Super Angels? A Comprehensive Guide". Business Insider.
  12. ↑ Maggie Shiels (September 23, 2010). "'Angelgate': A tech conspiracy?". BBC.
  13. ↑ "After Quiet Dinner, Angels Get Indigestion". New York Times. September 22, 2010.
  14. ↑ McClure, Dave (30 June 2017). "Silicon Valley Women, in Cultural Shift, Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  15. ↑ "I'm a Creep. I'm Sorry. – 500 Hats". 500 Hats. 2017-07-01. Archived from the original on 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  16. ↑ Tang, Ashley (July 16, 2017). "Cheryl Yeoh: Why now, and why I'm not pressing charges". The Star. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  17. ↑ "Exclusive: Dave McClure resigns as general partner of 500 Startups funds". Axios. 2017-07-03. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  18. ↑ Solon, Olivia; Levin, Sam (2017-07-04). "Top Silicon Valley investor resigns as allegation of sexual assault emerges". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
  19. ↑ Chapman, Lizette (March 25, 2019). "After a Sex Scandal, 500 Startups and Its Former CEO Plan Their Next Acts". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
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