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The Secret History of Silicon Valley 12: The Rise of “Risk Capital.

Steve Blank

The Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Act in 1958 guaranteed that for every dollar a bank or financial institution invested in a new company, the U.S. And for the first time, private companies like Continental Capital, Pitch Johnson & Bill Draper and Sutter Hill were formed to take advantage of the government largesse from the SBA.

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The Secret History of Silicon Valley Part IX: Entrepreneurship in.

Steve Blank

Venture Capital, Microwaves and the OSS Dean Watkins the leader of TWT research at Stanford’s Electronic Laboratory, left Stanford in 1957 and co-founded Watkins-Johnson (with R.H. They would be one the first venture firms to organize their firm as a partnership rather than an SBIC or public company.