Artifact Details

Title

Patricof, Alan oral history

Catalog Number

102717370

Type

Moving image

Description

Alan Patricof was born in 1934 in New York City. At the time of this oral history, he was 83 and clearly states here that his goal was to live to 114! He was a true pioneer in venture capital and has had an astoundingly successful career in venture capital and corporate finance. He is a man of high energy and great financial success. In a confident, but not boasting, way he notes he’s never had a losing year in business, never sued anyone or been sued, and lives a very principled life.

He grew up on the West Side of NYC, attended public schools then Horace Mann School for Boys. Upon graduation from high school, he attended Ohio State and finished in three years. He later earned an MS from the Columbia Business School, which he attended part time while employed in his first job as an investment counselor.

After working for a few investment firms, he set up his own business representing high net worth families and guiding some of their money into private investments. He had experience in this area based on his previous work. During this earlier work, he invested in the startup of several companies, including Lin Broadcasting, Datascope, and New York Magazine. Later in life he became Board Chair of the Magazine.

These and other experiences whetted his appetite for making direct investments in companies where he could really have an impact. He pursued this investment philosophy for the rest of his career. In the 1970’s he got into corporate finance, but that was never a major part of his work.

This oral history recounts his experience investing in a wide variety of companies, from technology to publishing, as well as advising governments in places like Nigeria and elsewhere in how to improve their economies. He continues to actively invest through his current company, Greycroft Partners, with major focus on digital media companies.

Date

2018-08-29

Participants

Hancock, Marguerite Gong, Interviewer
Patricof, Alan, Interviewee

Publisher

Computer History Museum

Place of Publication

East Hampton, NY

Duration

02:04:55

Format

MOV

Category

Oral history

Collection Title

CHM Oral History

Credit

Computer History Museum

Lot Number

X8754.2019
 

Related Records

102717369 Patricof, Alan oral history