William H. Draper III, Author of The Startup Game: Inside the Partnership Between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs, in Conversation with KQED’s Dave Iverson

When we think of Silicon Valley today, innovative companies such as Google, Facebook, Open Table, and others will come to mind for just about every American. It’s difficult to imagine these powerhouses as small, struggling start-ups, but at some point, each one was just a good idea that needed support, and for these and countless others, that support came through venture capitalists. Venture capital is much more than the caricature many may think of when they hear the term; these businessmen and women do not invest millions with the sole hope of “cashing out” in the future. In fact, they provide creative thinkers with both the capital necessary to turn their vision into a reality, as well as the business know-how and networking skills necessary to keep the company afloat.

The Startup Game covers Bill Draper’s forty years of experience and describes how vital the relationship between venture capitalist and entrepreneur is to the future of business, and offers lessons culled from decades of working in the technology center of the world. Draper extracts lessons and advice that only a lifetime in the field can provide—from the necessary qualities any successful entrepreneur must possess to the importance of friendship and family in the business world. He provides candid descriptions of his own successes and failures in venture capital and public service, and writes passionately about the important role government can—and in his view should—play in encouraging new businesses in the United States.

The Museum is very proud to welcome the team of Draper and Iverson to our stage. Dave Iverson is a master interviewer and will conduct a fascinating conversation with one of our country’s leading venture capitalists.

This event is part of our 2011 lecture series celebrating Revolutionaries, featuring conversations with and about some of the most distinguished thinkers in the computing field. The Revolutionaries lecture series complements the launch of the Computer History Museum’s permanent exhibition, Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing.