The new tech millionaires yearn to legitimize their wealth. They swear they're better than those year 2000 dot-com scamsters. They're basically poor people, see, but with humongous bank accounts — and an endless need to brag about their modest lifestyles.
The week of Web 2.0 Summit, with the industry converging on San Francisco, seems like as good time as any to throw a shindig. Everyone's in town for the schmoozefest, so you might get to meet quality people who normally avoid the party scene. While my boss hit the Reddit party, I hopped around town to some of the other events. Three, in fact. VC firm True Ventures held a gathering at their offices on Pier 38, a tech industry jam session — for charity, naturally — occurred across town at the Rickshaw Stop, and VCs Eric Chin and Mike Jung held a private party at Fluid for attendees of their intimate Alpha dinners in Woodside. Who needs sleep this week?
Ram Shriram is No. 271 on the Forbes Billionaires list. He's a veteran of Netscape and Amazon, and an investor in StumbleUpon and Google. He owes his place on the list to the latter, where, as an angel investor, he had more shares than anyone besides the company's founders at the time of its IPO. Now he acts as a "sherpa" to young companies, helping guide them to success. He also participated in financial-planning startup Mint's latest round of financing. Mint CEO Aaron Patzer shares a story about Shriram's investing habits after the jump. If you want this guy as your startup sherpa, take notes.
Congratulations to entrepreneur Aaron Patzer, pictured above with an oversized novelty check. His financial-services startup Mint was the big winner in this week's TechCrunch40 conference, bringing home the $50,000 prize for being the "best in show." So, what was the overall view of TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis's big event? This take, sent to us late last night from an out-of-town journalist, explains it better than we could.
