Bill Gurley facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bill Gurley
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Gurley in 2013
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John William Gurley
May 10, 1966 (age 59) Dickinson, Texas, U.S.
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| Known for | Investing, general partner at Benchmark |
John William Gurley, born on May 10, 1966, is an American businessman. He is a key partner at Benchmark, a company in Silicon Valley that helps new businesses grow. Benchmark is located in San Francisco, California.
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Early Life and Education Journey
John William Gurley was born in Dickinson, Texas, near Houston, on May 10, 1966. He studied at the University of Florida, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1989. While there, he was part of the men’s basketball team. Later, Gurley earned his Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business in 1993.
From Engineer to Analyst
Before becoming an investor, Gurley worked as a design engineer at Compaq Computer. He helped create products like the 486/50 computer and Compaq's first server. Before Compaq, he worked at AMD, focusing on their embedded processors.
Gurley also spent four years working on Wall Street as a research analyst. He worked for three years at CS First Boston. A famous author, Jeffrey Pfeffer, once called him "one of Wall Street’s top technology analysts." Gurley studied companies like Dell, Compaq, and Microsoft. He was also the main analyst for the first public offering of Amazon.com shares.
Bill Gurley's Role at Benchmark
At Benchmark, Bill Gurley has led many important investments. He has also served on the boards of several companies. These include Brighter, DogVacay, Good Eggs, GrubHub, HackerOne, Linden Lab, LiveOps, Nextdoor, OpenTable, Sailthru, Scale Computing, Stitch Fix, Vessel, and Zillow.
Key Investments and Successes
Gurley's other investments have included Avamar Technologies, which was bought by EMC Corporation. He also invested in Business.com, later acquired by R.H. Donnelley. Other successful investments include Clicker.com (bought by CBS Interactive) and Demandforce (acquired by Intuit).
He also supported Employease (acquired by ADP, Inc.) and JAMDAT Mobile (bought by Electronic Arts). Nordstrom.com (acquired by Nordstrom) and Shopping.com (acquired by eBay) were also among his investments. He also invested in The Knot, Uber, and Vudu (acquired by Walmart). Gurley is often listed on the Forbes Midas List, which recognizes top venture capitalists.
During the economic downturn in 2008, Gurley gained attention. He sent a letter to the companies he invested in. He advised their leaders to be careful with spending. However, he also told them to look for new chances during tough economic times.
In 2015, Gurley shared his thoughts on investing in private tech companies. He believed that Silicon Valley and its venture-backed businesses had entered a "speculative and unsustainable" period. His warnings and blog posts about venture capital spending have been widely discussed.
In March 2016, Gurley was honored as VC of the Year. This award was given at TechCrunch’s annual Crunchies awards.
Involvement with Uber
Gurley left Uber's board of directors in June 2017. This news came out one day after Uber's CEO, Travis Kalanick, resigned. Kalanick's resignation followed months of discussion about Uber's company culture.
Gurley reportedly had a close working relationship with CEO Travis Kalanick. He was one of Uber’s most involved board members. Gurley showed his support for Kalanick on Twitter. He stated that "Very few entrepreneurs have had such a lasting impact on the world."
In April 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that Gurley would be stepping back from Benchmark. This meant he would not be investing in a new fund that his firm was raising.
Personal Life and Interests
Bill Gurley is known for being very tall; he is 6 feet 9 inches. The name of his blog, Above the Crowd, refers to his height. A book called eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists also mentions his height. The book's subtitle is “The true story of the six tall men who backed eBay, Webvan, and other billion-dollar start-ups."
Gurley is married and has three children. He currently lives in Austin, Texas.
