Ron Conway had already taken Altos Computer Systems public in 1982 and founded one of the first institutional angel funds, Angel Investors LP, in 1998, before launching SV Angel in 2005. Known as the 'Godfather of Silicon Valley,' Conway built a reputation for being one of the very first checks into companies that became generational technology giants - Google, Facebook, Twitter, PayPal, and Airbnb among them. Conway retired from active day-to-day investing in 2018, and in 2025 the firm - now run alongside his sons Ronny and Topher - announced it would stop raising traditional funds in favor of smaller, more personal checks.
Twitter, Facebook, and PayPal's early growth - SV Angel and founder Ron Conway's Angel Investors LP were among the first checks into all three before they became household names