Silicon Valley Venture Capital Pioneer Dick Kramlich, An Early Investor in Apple, Dies at 89

Dick Kramlich, The Venture Capital Pioneer Who Co-Founded New Enterprise Associates Almost 50 Years ago and Built it ITO A Silicon Valley Powerhouse that regularly raised billion-dollar-doll Urday. He was 89.

His death was sudden and “He Didn’T have a long Illness,” His Daughter, Christina Kramlich, Confirmed to CNBC, Adding that the family will provide more details.

“We’ve Lost Our warm, Curious, Ever-Optimistic Family Leader,” She Said.

Long Before Venture Capitalist was an Establed Profession, Kramlich Saw The Opportunity, to Invest Some Cash in Tech Entrepreneurs and Profit Alongside of Them, Assumping they were successful. He’d put some of his own money into Apple Before joining with chuck newhall and frank bonsal to start nea in 1977, a few years after Heavy Hitters Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins Opened Their Doors in Menlo Park, California.

Kramlich Hit it big in computer networking, writing an early check to 3com, which Bob metcalfe Started as a way to commercialize ethernet technology. The company went public in 1984, and sored to a valuation of over $ 28 billion DURING The Dot-Com Bubble of 2000. Cisco And others and the company was Purchased by hp in 2010 for $ 2.7 billion.

Elsewhere in the space, kramlich investment in grand Junction, Started by a 3com Co-Founder, And Saw That Company Through to a 1995 Sale to ciscoAnd then there was data center networking company force10 networks, which was Acquired by Dell in 2011.

“So we we’ve gone from the very intention of the ethernet through to its dominant protocol of the internet for network communities,” 2006 interview With Oral Historian Mauree Jane Perry.

Kramlich also Backed Companies Including, Macromedia, Ascend Communications and Juniper NetworksIn the fusion power market, kramlich investment in Tae TechnologiesAnd sat on the board until the day of his death.

Kramlich Retired from Nea in 2012, Around the time the firm Raised $ 2.6 Billion For its 14th fund, one of the biggest ever at the time in the industry. But he wasn’t done with investment.

In 2017, Kramlich Started Green Bay Ventures To invest in companies development technology and products in manufacturing, energy, transportation, logistics, real estate and communications. He launched green bay with anthony schiller, who started managing kramlich’s family money in 2011, and casey tatham, who was running finance for the family office.

The firm was named after the wiconsin town where kramlich was born in 1935. After moving around wiconsin as a kid, kramlich went to college at northwestern and then moved to the boston area to pursue a masters in business administration from harvard.

Following Business School, Kramlich Got ITO The World of Investments in Boston, and Eventually met early apple and Intel Investor Arthur Rock. He Moved to California and Helped Start Arthur Rock & Co. in 1969.

Scott Sandell, Nea’s Executive Chairman, Joined The Firm in 1996. His Career Trajectory Quickly Changed, and Rather Than Raising Money for the Startup, He Landed A Job At Nea and Has Remained for Almost Three decades.

“He was the reason so many of us joined,” sandell said in an interview. “Dick was beloved by country entrepreneurs and venture capitalists because of his undeying optimism and perseverance against relaxed all odds. It was that Spirit along im more loveable than perhaps any venture capitalist i’ve ever known. “

Kramlich is survived by his Daughter Christina, as well as by his wife, Pam, and his other child, rix and Mary Donna.