Media Contacts:
Barbara Pruitt, 816-932-1288, bpruitt@kauffman.org, Kauffman Foundation
In Kauffman Foundation Podcast and Video Hambrecht shares insights from a half century of experiences, including accessing public markets and working with entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs
(KANSAS CITY, Mo.), May 3, 2012 – Before the advent of the Internet, pioneering investment banker Bill Hambrecht was a leading force in the technology revolution. In a new podcast and video released today by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Hambrecht discusses his life and insights with Kauffman Chief Investment Officer Harold Bradley.
"It's been a wonderful experience," Hambrecht says of his more than half-century experience working with seminal companies at their early stages. "By definition, these are some of the most exciting, unusual companies in the country today."
In the podcast, Hambrecht talks about all aspects of investing in and working with companies at the startup stage, including accessing public markets, working with Steve Jobs and Xerox, creating more successful companies and learning to be an entrepreneur.
Hambrecht is the founder, chairman, and CEO of WR Hambrecht + Co. Previously, he co-founded Hambrecht & Quist and became a disruptive force to the conventional underwriting business. The firm has financed Silicon Valley enterprises to become one of the leading investment banks of the technology revolution. H&Q rode the tech wave, underwriting initial public offerings (IPOs) for clients that would become industry giants, including Apple Computer, Netscape, Genentech and Adobe Systems. Hambrecht’s original vision and innovative spirit led to the creation of the OpenIPO, which made the initial public offering process more equitable. He helped persuade Google to use an Internet-based auction for its IPO in 2004, instead of a more traditional method using banks and other financial companies to find buyers.
