Described as one of the super angel investors, Dave McClure is a venture capitalist and founding partner at 500 Startups, a venture capital firm & startup incubator headquartered in Silicon Valley founded by PayPal and Google alumni, with over $150 in assets under management. McClure has been in Silicon Valley for twenty-five years as a developer, entrepreneur, startup advisor & investor, blogger, and Internet marketing nerd.

McClure’s passion is helping startups with product & marketing strategy, and he is regular speaker on technology & entrepreneurship topics such as startup metrics. He has invested in over 1000 startup companies around the world including: Credit Karma valued >$1B in 2014, Twilio raised >$100M as of 2013, among others.

From 2008 thru 2010, McClure managed the FF Angel seed investment program for Founders Fund, and ran the 2009 fbFund incubator program on behalf of Facebook, Accel Partners, & Founders Fund. From 2006 thru 2008 he was an advisor & consultant to several startups and helped teach the nation’s first-ever class on Facebook and social networking platforms at Stanford University in 2007. From 2005 thru 2006 McClure ran marketing for job search engine Simply Hired. From 2001 thru 2004, McClure was Director of Marketing at PayPal (acquired by eBay in 2002), where he started the PayPal Developer Network program. Prior to PayPal, he was a database consultant & programmer for several companies, including Microsoft and Intel. In 1994 he founded Aslan Computing, an Internet & e-commerce consulting group later acquired by Servinet / Panurgy in 1998.

McClure graduated from the Johns Hopkins University with BS Engineering in Mathematical Sciences. His interests include microfinance and economic innovation, entrepreneurship and venture capital, ultimate frisbee, cartoons and animation, and an ever-growing collection of funny-looking hats.