Name:
Arthur Rock

Birth Date:
August 19, 1926

Place of Birth:
Rochester, New York, United States of America

Nationality:
American

Gender:
Male

Occupations:
venture capitalist

50年代，在硅谷的车库里惠普公司应运而生。斯坦福大学提供的新技术和有创意的人才，成了硅谷的成功因素。本地投资者阿瑟·洛克(Arthur Rock)意识到：若想获利，就必须抢在大多数人之前进行投资。他组建投资基金，然后有越来越多的投资基金组建起来，于是风险资金成为一个行业。

　　"风险投资"一词是在1965年以后才广为流传，发明人应是阿瑟·洛克。不管这种说法有没有道理，但无庸讳言，洛克(字面意思是"岩石")绝对是该行业第一块里程碑。是洛克为硅谷的成长播下了种子，他投资的企业成为美国高科技的领导者，他的投资哲学和为人处世也成为后来者的楷模。

　　1951年，洛克毕业于哈佛大学商学院，投身投资银行业。他对初创小企业颇有兴趣，也投过几家，其中便有Teledyne。1957年，肖克利实验室的八位科学家出走，希望另立门户，但找了35个投资人都遭到拒绝。洛克找到开有照相机厂的Sherman Fairchild，说服他贷款150万，成立仙童(Fairchild)半导体公司。但Sherman Fairchild去世后，新的CEO反对以股票奖励员工，导致人才外流，著名的"仙童八叛逆"成立了英特尔。1961年，洛克本人也从东海岸来到旧金山，"加州人有创业精神，但钱全在东部，所以我决定把东部的钱移到加州来，支持新兴的高科技企业。"

　　1997年度《时代》杂志的封面人物是英特尔公司的葛洛夫。他却将他和英特尔的成功归功于当初扶持他创业的风险资本家阿瑟·洛克。当然，洛克也从英特尔的成长中获得巨大利益。除了英特尔，洛克投资的公司还包括象征硅谷精神的苹果电脑，以及以10亿美金(当时的天价)卖给施乐的Scientific Data Systems。可以说，洛克的投资史反映了硅谷的成长史。但洛克作为风险投资家的影响却更为深远：他的谦逊和专业精神渗透了整个风险投资业。风险投资业一直甘愿作幕后英雄，把光彩留给创业家。

　　人人都想知道洛克挑选赢家的秘诀，但洛克却坦承自己是技术的门外汉。他投资的是"人"，而不是"产品"。"我寻找目标的首要条件就是那人是否诚实，而这要花很长时间才能知道。不是说这个人是不是会偷东西，或者拿了钱就逃之夭夭，而是他有没有勇气正视自己犯的错误。你如果问一百个人他们想不想发财，没有一个会说不想，但光有致富的欲望还不行，必须要有牺牲精神──"牺牲"不仅仅是指一天工作20个小时，更是指勇于说不的能力。"说"不"的对象包括某些个人的喜好及任何有碍于企业发展的诱惑。

　　洛克对投资项目非常挑剔，宁缺勿滥。他会花上一个至三个月跟创业者深谈，从各个方面了解他的人品。对了，他的案子一般来自友人的推荐；他对创业企划书的形式也没有行文洋洋洒洒、装订精美绝伦的要求，如英特尔的计划只有短短两页。这种重人际关系的作法延续到现在，对指望着用漂亮的商业计划书吸引投资人的创业者是一大打击。

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阿瑟·洛克

　　洛克的另一个影响是他对投资公司的参与。他不是那种给完钱就撒手不管的人，而是会积极参与企业的管理──定期参加会议、推荐高阶主管人选、推荐财务管理公司、法律事务所、公关公司等，用他自己的话来说，充当创业者的"心理咨询师"。当然洛克也承认，在现今科技高速发展的年代，光会看人已经不够，必须懂技术。在他那个年代，在选择技术方面犯个错误不会有太严重的后果，如今则会至人于死地。但对于目前那种不闻不问创业者其人其事其技术、打通电话就投资的浮躁风，他也流露了相当的不满。

　　八十年代初，洛克开始思考由风险投资刺激的创业潮带来的负面影响。当过多的资金涌进像硅谷这样的地方，大企业中的能人愈来愈多选择自己创业，或者加入初创公司以得到股票选择权，这不仅造成大公司的人才"真空"现象，而且激发了小企业的无限繁殖，使得其中大部份难以长期生存或增长到应有的规模。

　　对于洛克，风险投资乃一门艺术，而不是科学。艺术的奥秘可以意会、难以言谈。洛克能把钱押在仙童的集成电路、英特尔的微处理器、苹果的个人电脑上，本该夸耀自己的高瞻远瞩，但他却谦卑地说："我是全世界最幸运的人。像我所投资的那些企业的创始人，全世界加起来也许只有一百来个，我却有幸认识其中十个。这不是运气是什么？"

Arthur Rock (born 1926) was the first venture capitalist. He invested in Fairchild Semiconductor, Intel, Apple Computer, and numerous other high-technology companies. His investments helped create many successful Silicon Valley companies.

Arthur Rock was born in Rochester, New York, on August 19, 1926, the son of Hyman and Reva (Cohen) Rock. He earned a bachelors degree in business administration from Syracuse University in 1948 and a masters degree from Harvard in 1951.

Invented the Term 'Venture Capital'

After graduating from Harvard, Rock joined the Wall Street firm of Hayden Stone & Co., where he worked as a securities analyst in the investment banking department, underwriting new stock issues. He was quite successful at picking applied science stocks in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In discussing that time, Rock said in Charged Bodies: People, Power, and Paradox in Silicon Valley, "It was a different era; there was really no one putting together money to go into high technology. Even the term 'venture capital' was unknown until 1965. I think I was the first one to use it. I can't remember anyone using it before that."

In 1956, engineers Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore helped William Shockley, the inventor of the transistor, set up Shockley Semiconductor Laboratories. One year later, eight engineers walked out on Shockley, fed up with his difficult temperament. The "traitorous eight," as they were called, wanted to set up their own transistor company, but needed investors. One of the eight young men had a father with an account at Hayden Stone. The man mentioned his son's predicament to someone at the investment banking firm. Soon after, a partner at the firm and Rock flew to California, met with the eight, and agreed to find the financing for their venture. It took Rock 35 tries before he found a company that would supply the money they needed. Fairchild Camera and Instrument, a company in Syosset, New York, put up $1.5 million in return for the right to buy the new company for $3 million if it succeeded. The company, called Fairchild Semiconductor, did succeed. Two years later Fairchild bought out the founders for $250,000 in Fairchild stock, worth $1.35 million in 1997.

Rock and Hayden Stone got involved with Teledyne soon after the company's founding in 1960 by Henry E. Singleton. Rock found the financing and became a member of the executive committee. Singleton found Rock to be "extremely brainy, perceptive, quick to grasp the essentials and reach a conclusion."

The San Francisco Bay Area was where all the high technology deals were taking place, so Rock moved to San Francisco in 1961. He set up a business with Thomas J. Davis, Jr. as his general partner. To fund the business, Rock assembled capital of $3.5 million from 25 limited partners, including Henry E. Singleton and Fayez Sarofim, a Harvard classmate. Davis & Rock existed from 1961 to 1968. This company was the first limited venture capital partnership.

Davis & Rock invested in 15 companies, including Anadex Instruments, Inc., General Capacitor, Astrodata, Teledyne, Benrus Watch Co., and Scientific Data Systems (SDS), founded by the mathematician Max Palevsky. Rock's company put $257,000 into SDS; the investment rose in value to $60 million and the company's sales went from $1 million to $100 million. The incredible success of SDS earned Rock a reputation as a great prognosticator of high-tech companies in which to invest. SDS was acquired by Xerox Corporation in 1969. Rock's share of Xerox stock was worth $4.6 million in 1970.

Rock, who does not have a technical background, chose SDS because he had confidence in Palevsky's drive to succeed. Rock recalled in Business Week, "I was convinced that he was going to make money. Very few people turn me on the way he did." Palevsky said that Rock's talent is "an ability to listen, not so much to what people say, because that may be technical, but to what people are expressing about themselves. He has a great deal of intuition."

Funded Intel

By 1968, Noyce, Moore, and another Fairchild employee named Andy Grove, were ready to start a new company, Intel. They hoped to produce semiconductors used for computer memory. Noyce called his good friend Rock, with whom he used to hike and camp. Rock described how Intel began. "Bob (Noyce) just called me on the phone. We'd been friends for a long time.... Documents? There was practically nothing. Noyce's reputation was good enough. We put out a page-and-a-half little circular, but I'd raised the money even before people saw it." Rock made 15 phone calls in one afternoon and raised $2.5 million. C. Richard Kramlich, with whom Rock had founded Arthur Rock and Associates in 1969, recalled that it took Rock about two hours to raise the money. The raising of that much money in that short amount of time turned Rock into a legend. Rock was looking for more than investors. He also wanted people who could make a contribution to the company in the way of expertise. Rock himself invested $300,000 in the company and served as its first chairman.

In 1978, Mike Markulla of Apple Computer hooked up Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak with Rock. Rock bought 640,000 shares of Apple Computer for nine cents a share, an investment of about $57,000, and he became a director of the company. Three years later, when Apple went public, his shares were worth $14 million, a return of 23,000 percent, further enhancing Rock's reputation.

In the late 1970s, Rock began working on his own under the name Arthur Rock & Co. His only employee was his secretary of many years, Marie Getchel. Rock helped launch Diasonics, a manufacturer of medical instruments. He was the company's founding chairman. When it went public in 1983, it was worth over $1 billion. Rock made $3.1 million when he sold 150,000 shares at the initial public offering. Rock also invested in ELXSi International, a computer company, and Rational Machines, a company that sells computer systems used to design software.

"An Incredible Intuition"

Rock once described the role of a venture capitalist as someone who hunts for entrepreneurial dreamers possessed of "the potential to change the world." Rock analyzed the potential of a young company by focusing on the entrepreneur. "People, people, people," said Rock, in describing how he chooses companies to invest in.

Larry Mohr, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, described what Rock looked for in an entrepreneur: "He wants to see fire in the belly and intellect. A lot of people would invest in just intellect. Not Arthur. He hates sloppiness and does not suffer fools gladly." Once Rock invests in a venture, he is very loyal. He often joins the board of directors and provides a steady stream of advice. "His individual contribution has been the difference between success and failure for us," said Paul Levy, co-founder of Rational.

Rock has few private investors as clients. He invests his own fortune and the money of a few friends, making three or four deals a year. The companies he finances are close to his office so he does not have to travel much. Rock searches for ideas, people, and products that together would create a new industry. He makes up his mind quickly, acts decisively, and moves silently. Palevsky said of him, "Arthur has an incredible intuition. His nose never ceases to amaze me."

Concerned with Social Problems

Rock married lawyer Toni Rembe, his second wife, on July 19, 1975. They have a home overlooking San Francisco Bay. The couple has no children. Rock spends much of the winter in Aspen, Colorado, where he and his wife own a three-story condominium. He exercises for an hour every morning and skis most of the winter. Rock is a great fan of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. He also supports San Francisco's opera, ballet, and Museum of Modern Art. His personal art collection includes works by Robert Motherwell and Hans Hofmann. Rock enjoys hosting dinner parties with guests such as Opera Impresario Kurt Herbert Adler and Rolling Stone magazine editor Jann Wenner.

Rock has become very wealthy as a venture capitalist. In 1984, his personal fortune was estimated at $200 million, but he does not like discussing it. He told Time, "I don't like people to count my money. That isn't what turns me on." Rock does not like publicity and is so secretive "that he amounts to a sort of mysterious force in the financial world," according to journalist Michael Moritz.

Rock's main interest outside of work has been social problems. As far back as 1970 he spent time advising minority businesspeople. In 1998, he told Forbes, "Most successful men and women give generously to their universities, but it seems to me that those gifts increase the distance between the haves and the have-nots. We need to be doing something about inner-city education at early levels."