The Return Of Celebrity VCs
from the not-this-again dept
During the boom years, when venture capitalists were the new rockstars of the dot com era, we began to see the rise of “celebrity VCs.” It was especially popular for former sports stars to jump into the venture investing business – even if they had no real business background or knowledge. Most of these VC firms didn’t get very far, especially once the bubble popped. Now, however, as business seems to be picking up again, it looks like the celebrity VC may be back. The latest to throw his hat into the venture investing ring is U2 frontman Bono, who is joining the newly created Elevation Partners to invest in media and entertainment businesses. The other partners in the firm (Roger McNamee, John Riccitiello, Fred Anderson and others) all have a bit more experience, so you have to wonder if the Bono move is just to get them some more attention as they launch – or if Bono will really be taking meetings up on Sandhill Road with startups begging for money. It’s a little unclear from the wording of the article exactly what Bono’s role will be. Either way, it appears that Elevation isn’t starting small. The rumor mill suggests they’re looking for their initial fund to be a billion dollar fund.
