From College Hill to Silicon Valley: Tech Entrepreneur Rick Klau ’93 Answers Policy Study Students’ Questions About Venture Capital Funding for Technology Startups

In early September, Lafayette alum Rick Klau traveled to campus to address a standing room-only crowd of students. Jointly sponsored by the Policy Studies Program and Career Services, Klau’s visit illuminated the behind the scenes process of how venture capital firm Google Ventures helps bold and visionary entrepreneurs change the world.

Answering a broad range of questions, from specific aspects of GV-funded entities like Uber, Blue Bottle Coffee, LendUp, 23andMe, and Periscope to more broad-based questions about the decision and funding processes and dealing with success or failure, Klau provided clear insight and specific examples to bring clarity to a somewhat esoteric topic.

In answering the question of how GV assesses whether to invest in a start up, Klau says the team is the most important ingredient. “Ideas are not the hard part. Show us the team that can actually build the thing that needs to exist.” In return, GV provides “unparalleled support in design, engineering, recruiting, marketing” and other related areas to support the teams selected for funding.

Annually, GV invests $300 million in the United States and $100 million in other countries worldwide to support technology startups. Among the 300 companies that have received GV funds to date, some are Google competitors. “If it makes things harder for our friends at Google,” Klau says, “then they should make better products. Or buy the company.”

Klau assured the liberal arts college audience that “the blend of backgrounds and experiences that multidisciplinary individuals bring” is increasingly attractive in Silicon Valley. Versatile individuals who think in multifaceted ways are prized. “If risk is part of the conversation, it’s ‘Why are we not taking bigger risks?’”

Klau runs the Partnerships Program, connecting GV’s portfolio companies with corporate partners around the world. Prior to joining GV, he was a Google product manager, working on products like Blogger, Google+ and YouTube. Politically active, Klau has provided technology advice to multiple US presidential campaigns and was the creator of superdelegates.org. In 2012, Klau received the Fastcase 50 award honoring “the fifty most interesting, provocative, and courageous leaders in the world of law, scholarship, and legal technology.” After graduating from Lafayette, Klau continued on to the University of Richmond School of Law, graduating in 1996.