Bill Elfers

Co-Founder (1965) at Greylock Partners · Joined 1965

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Biography

Bill Elfers founded Greylock & Co. in Boston in 1965 after eighteen years at American Research and Development Corporation, which he joined in 1947 and where he was senior vice president from 1951, second to founder Georges Doriot. He was Greylock's managing partner and president, and he built the firm on a partnership model that relied on numerous limited partners rather than a single funding family, with early limited partners including the Corning family, Arthur and Thomas Watson of IBM, and Sherman Fairchild. He stepped down as chief executive and chairman in 1976 but remained closely involved as a general partner until the late 1990s, and he wrote Greylock: An Adventure Capital Story, a history of the firm from 1965 to 1995. He died on June 21, 2005 at age 87.

Education

Previous Experience

Notable Investments

Wang Laboratories

Career Timeline

1947
Joined American Research and Development Corporation, the first public venture capital company, founded by Georges Doriot.
1951
Became senior vice president of American Research and Development, second to president Georges Doriot.
1965
Left ARD after eighteen years and founded Greylock & Co. in Boston, naming it after Greylock Road in Wellesley, Massachusetts, where he lived.
1976
Stepped down as chief executive and chairman of Greylock while remaining a general partner into the late 1990s.
2003
Received the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award along with several Greylock cofounders.
2005
Died of a heart attack on June 21 while vacationing in Oysterville, Washington.

Sources & References

Greylock - Team (Founding Partners listing) ↗Harvard University HOLLIS for Archival Discovery - William Elfers papers, biographical note ↗Princeton Alumni Weekly memorial - William Elfers '41 ↗Venture Capital Journal - In Memoriam: Bill Elfers ↗Computer History Museum / NVCA Oral History with Henry F. McCance ↗Wikipedia - Greylock Partners ↗