AlwaysOn Names Top Venture Capitalists in Inaugural VC 100 List

Selected VCs Recognized for Successfully Bringing Liquidity to Investors in the Last Four Years

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AlwaysOn today announced the winners of its first VC 100 List, revealing the top venture capitalists with significant exit success in the last four years. Presented by the AlwaysOn editorial team and Sonnenschein Venture Technology Group, selected VCs include Kevin Harvey, Bill Gurley, Bruce Dunlevie, Peter Fenton of Benchmark Capital; Roelof Botha, Michael Moritz, Douglas Leone of Sequoia Capital; Sandy Miller, Todd Chaffee of Institutional Venture Partners; George Still Jr. of Northwest Venture Partners; Tim Draper of Draper Fisher Jurvetson; Mark Gorenberg of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners; and Woody Benson of Prism Venture. AlwaysOn is releasing the VC 100 List in anticipation of its upcoming event Venture Summit Silicon Valley, bringing together the most influential investors, venture capitalists and investment bankers.

“We are pleased to continue our strategic partnership with AlwaysOn in showcasing this exceptional group of venture firms”

To compile the first VC 100 List, the AlwaysOn editorial team sourced data from its research partners Morgan Stanley, VentureDeal and the 451 Group on more than 700 active venture capitalists, 1,400 VC investments and 1,000 technology liquidity events in the last four years, from October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2009. The winning venture capitalists were selected based on total number and dollar amounts of successful M&A and IPO deals from their portfolio companies. For IPOs, AlwaysOn examined opening market capitalization as well as subsequent stock performance, relative to the Nasdaq. For each investment, AlwaysOn counted one lead investor per firm, in order to identify the true dealmakers. Much of the data required for a thorough evaluation remains private and inaccessible, and the VC 100 List ultimately represents the opinion of AlwaysOn’s editorial team. The full VC 100 List can be found on the AlwaysOn website at: http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/34032.

“The last 15 months have been highly uncertain for both the venture capital industry and the companies they fund, but funding entrepreneurs takes patience and endurance. The AlwaysOn Venture Capital 100 highlights the one hundred individuals who have backed the most profitable winners in the last four years,” said Tony Perkins, founder and editor of AlwaysOn. “This list is not based upon perfect information—and we are sure there are investors we missed—but it underscores the critical role venture capital plays in new company and new job creation. Congratulations to the winners who, together with the entrepreneurs they have funded, have saddled innovation to overcome a daunting economic environment, and provide a long-term stimulus for our economy.”

The AlwaysOn VC 100 will be honored at Venture Summit Silicon Valley at Rosewood Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park from December 8-9. Venture Summit Silicon Valley is a two-day gathering that highlights the significant economic, political and technology trends impacting the global growth investor. The Venture Summit features the most influential institutional investors, venture capitalists, corporate buyers, investment bankers and research analysts in keynote presentations and panel debates.

“We are pleased to continue our strategic partnership with AlwaysOn in showcasing this exceptional group of venture firms," said Victor H. Boyajian, global chair, Sonnenschein Venture Technology Group. "As a top 10 national venture law firm with offices from Silicon Valley to Boston and New York and globally, we see this industry recognition as an important measure of innovation, growth and wealth creation. Now we can celebrate the best and brightest with the annual VC 100 List."

About AlwaysOn

AlwaysOn is the leading business media brand networking the Global Silicon Valley. AlwaysOn helped ignite the social media revolution in early 2003 when it launched the AlwaysOn network (alwayson-network.com), and later in 2004, as the first media brand to socially network its online readers and event attendees. AlwaysOn’s preeminent executive event series includes: The Summit at Stanford, OnMedia, OnHollywood, OnDC, OnDemand, GoingGreen West, East and Europe, Venture Summit Silicon Valley and Venture Summit East. The AlwaysOn network and live event series continue to lead the industry by empowering its readers, event participants, sponsors and advertisers like no other media brand.