The top five VCs under 40 — what do you think?

May 14, 2007 | Matt Marshall | Comments |

vc-stripsmall.jpgThe Mercury News has just run a story listing the top five venture capitalists under the age of 40. Reporter Constance Loizos has done a good job with the selection. Here’s her intro.

Below are the names of the VCs and links to short profiles.

1. Danny Rimer. Hits: Skype, Tellme.

2. Roelof Botha. Hits: YouTube.

3. Peter Thiel. Hits: Facebook

4. Peter Fenton. Hits: Reactivity, JBoss, Wily.

5. Kevin Efrusy. Hits: Facebook

Of these, who do you think is tops? Admittedly, the bios are short, and don’t list all their investments. But if you have an opinion, vote below. And if you think another VC not on the list deserves mention, add them below in comments. (If you’re reading this in RSS, you’ll have to go to the site to see the poll.)

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  • X
    I've dealt with a few of these guys, and I'd certainly go with Roelof here: he's such humble and talented chap. Everybody that has dealt with him will echo that!
  • they are all great and there are probably another 20 or 30 that should be on the same list.

    why do we always have to pick on person to be the best?
  • bob
    I will be interested to see if any of these vcs actually build a company and take it public rather than get luckly and sell out in a frothy market. The person is this group that does this will the best in my opinon.
  • I'm sure that all of these guys are talented because the bar is set pretty high for entering the VC industry. However, I don't see anything repeatable about Skype, Youtube or Facebook. I don't doubt these folks abilities, but these three investments are not validation of their talents. For example, are there any lessons that these VCs can pass on from their experiences with Youtube, Skype or Facebook? Its just not credible to me if someone says "well this worked well at Facebook" because Facebook is such an anomaly.
  • DSS
    Agree with Bob's comment above, but would also add that I would rate the gent who has the best strike rate above the gent who has the highest IRR thanks to one monster hit.
  • JEM
    Any top female VC's to add to the list?
  • JEM,

    Constance's intro had a link on top right-hand-side to a piece about the dearth of female VCs. I thought people would find the link, but here it is for those you missed it.

    http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_5873541
  • having worked with both Peter & Roelof, my allegiance is split... but i'll go with Peter at the moment since i'd rate Facebook a slightly bigger score than YouTube (barely). Roelof may overtake him in the future, but it's all in the ex-PayPal Mafia family regardless ;)

    if you expanded the list slightly & included a few angels i'd also add:
    * Josh Kopelman
    * Jeff Clavier
    * Reid Hoffman

    don't know Danny personally, but i've heard very good things about him as well. and Fred's only in the comments, but he rocks (over 40 tho, i think?)

    - dave mcclure
    http://500hats.typepad.com/
  • Art
    I like Roelof Botha because he has the best tan.
  • Bob
    In response to Dave how does you know that facebook will be a bigger hit than youtube you must have a great crystal ball what else do you that we dont.
  • Roelof and Peter, both Stanford Business School Class of 2000. Like the 2003 NBA Draft with Wade and LeBron :)