Background

Valentine was born in New York City, New York, United States, on June 26, 1932.

Education

Valentine grew up in the Bronx, New York, and went to Mount Saint Michael Academy. In 1950, he entered Fordham University, from which he graduated in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Career

In the mid-1950s Valentine moved to Southern California to join the burgeoning aerospace industry where he became a sales engineer with Raytheon. In 1960 he moved to the San Francisco peninsula to join Fairchild Semiconductor. It was a spawning ground for several later spinoffs - including Intel, Advanced Micro Devices and National Semiconductor - which helped power the growth of the mini-computer, personal computer and inter-networking industries.

After seven years at Fairchild, Don Valentine joined the stuff of National Semiconductor becoming its founding VP of Sales and Marketing. During the time Don spent at National, the company became known for the sales and operational prowess which made it a leading supplier of analogue circuitry.

Concurrently, Valentine started making personal investments in technology companies and he captured the attention of the privately-held Capital Group, which was one of the earliest managers of mutual funds. Together with Capital, Don established Capital Management Services. This fund made seminal investments in Atari, the pioneering videogame company started by Nolan Bushnell, and in Apple Computer, a company started by a onetime Atari employee, Steve Jobs, and his high school friend, Steve Wozniak.

These early investments put what later became known as Sequoia Capital on the map. The company was formed in 1972. Valentine chose the name Sequoia because it "conveyed the longevity and strength of the tallest of redwoods."

Sequoia Capital has made early investments in such companies as LSI Logic, Electronic Arts, Google, YouTube, Network Appliance, Oracle Corporation, Cisco and many others.

Don Valentine is a former Chairman of NetApp and Traiana. He has, over decades, served on the boards of many other technology companies including Cisco Systems, Apple, Atari, C-Cube, Electronic Arts, Microchip Technology, NetApp, Linear Technology, LSI Logic, Oracle, PubMed Central-Sierra.

Achievements

• 

  Don Valentine is widely known as the founder of National Semiconductor. He shaped Sequoia and left his imprint on numerous philanthropic institutions that have invested with Sequoia Capital, and also on the Founders and leaders of some of the most significant technology companies of the later part of the twentieth century.
  
  Valentine is referred to as the "grandfather of Silicon Valley venture capital." The Computer History Museum credited him as playing "a key role in the formation of a number of industries such as semiconductors, personal computers, personal computer software, digital entertainment and networking."
  
  Don Valentine was featured in the documentary film Something Ventured which premiered in 2011.

Religion

Don Valentine was a devout Catholic.

Views

For many years Valentine was a keen supporter of the Stanford School of Engineering and helped organize the Stanford Engineering Venture Fund which became a model for many national universities. He was also a devoted supporter of medical research.

Membership

Valentine was a longtime member of the Guild of San Francisco Opera. He also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the San Francisco Symphony.

Personality

Don Valentine was a fan of rainswept Scottish golfing vacations, Pebble Beach, the Oakland Raiders and Tom Brady. He had affection for the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Symphony.

In his later years, Don Valentine was a ready source of advice. Unlike most leaders, he resisted the temptation to criticize decisions which he considered misguided or to meddle in the business. He was a curious person and enjoyed spending time with young people brimming with ideas about the future.

He was a man who favored green ink, never drank coffee, listened carefully, understood the virtues of silence, built the foundation on which so many have the good fortune to stand, and insisted that the ultimate test for every startup was a thoughtful answer to his perpetual question about its quest, “Who cares?”

Quotes from others about the person

• "The trouble with the first time entrepreneur is that he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. After a failure, he does know what he doesn’t know and can beat the hell out of people who still have to learn."
  
  "Great markets make great companies."
  
  "The world of technology thrives best when individuals are left alone to be different, creative, and disobedient."
  
  "The art of storytelling is incredibly important. Learning to tell a story is critically important because that’s how the money works. The money flows as a function of the story."
  
  "The key to making great investments is to assume that the past is wrong, and to do something that’s not part of the past, to do something entirely differently. I asked what was the most outrageous thing you’ve ever done, knowing in my heart of hearts that I’d pick the one who’d done something most outrageous."
  
  "What is important is to have the ability and willingness to be different. Great companies are built with different products by different people."
  
  "There are two things in business that matter, and you can learn this in two minutes- you don’t have to go to business school for two years: high gross margins and cash flow. The other financial metrics you can forget… with high gross margins you can grow the company as fast as the market will allow."

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  Oakland Raiders

• Athletes

  Tom Brady

Connections

Don Valentine was married to Rachel. The couple produced three children, Christian, Mark and Hilary. Valentine has seven grandchildren.

Wife:

Rachel Valentine

Son:

Christian Valentine

Son:

Mark Valentine

Daughter:

Hilary Valentine