Co-founder, Union Square Ventures
The VC firm that Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham created in 2003 has become the quintessence of successful startup financing in New York. USV has backed flourishing companies such as Twitter, Feedburner, and Etsy, and raised $158 million this year for a second USV fund.
But investments alone aren't what makes Fred so influential in the New York digital business community: It's the unique way in which USV makes them. Fred's blog on VC financing and technology has become a Silicon Alley Bible of sorts, a candid take on gadgets and technology trends that generates between 20 and 200 comments per post. A third of USV's investments grow from these comments.
Fred witnessed the last boom-bust cycle as a partner at Flatiron Partners during Bubble 1.0. Flatiron was lauded for its investments in sites like TheStreet.com and Industry Standard before having to write off a third of the fund's value when tech stocks fell off a cliff. That's why Fred's insight on everything from widgets to the VC outlook in the midst of a recession is so valuable to digerati and entrepreneurs alike. Fred has taken the wonkish, obfuscated nature out of financing and turned it into something interactive, educational, and fun. And he's a regular SAI contributor, to boot!
2007 Rank: 3
