Vulcan Capital, which manages investments for Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, announced today that it would open an office in downtown Palo Alto.
The Palo Alto office, which will be directed by Abhishek Agrawal, will focus on mid-to late-stage investments in the Internet and technology sector. The company stated that it would make investments in the range of $10 million to $100 million.
Seattle-based Vulcan Capital is the investment arm of Vulcan Inc., which Paul Allen founded and chairs. Vulcan Inc. oversees Allen’s business and philanthropic activities, according to its website.
Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1976 and remained the company’s chief technologist until he left Microsoft in 1983. Besides his investment portfolio in areas such as real estate, technology and media, Allen also owns the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL and the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA.
Harvard-educated Agrawal previously worked at General Atlantic, a growth equity firm, and Lazard Technology Partners, a tech-focused venture capital firm.
By Eric Van Susteren
By Eric Van Susteren
By Eric Van Susteren
Paul Allen is a notorious patent troll. Most of what he does is buy the assets of aging companies, including old and vague patents. Then he sues young, thriving, innovative companies to try to extort them for patent infringement. Most of Paul Allen’s patents are decades old, but his team of lawyers tries to convince judges that they can be applied to the modern era (e.g. applying telephone answering machine patents to internet web servers). This out-of-state scammer is getting rich by stifling Silicon Valley innovation.
As an original cofounder of Microsoft Paul Allen is a billionare and does not need to “steal” anything from Silicon Valley. The previous comment is the typical ranting about someone from Seattle or non-Bay Area location opening offices in the Bay Area. With the horrible commute congestion, people congestion in downtown Palo Alto, competition for apartments, etc. we wish Facebook had moved its offices and people to Phoenix or Dallas or somewhere else with lots of space. The last thing we need here are more people.
Why doesn’t Paul Allen open his business on Sand Hill Road, or is he afraid of the competition? Downtown PA is not the logical place.
Palo Alto is becoming quite the place to rub elbows with geek celebrities.
If Paul Allen is a patent troll, then what would you call companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft! Sharks, monsters, or worse. They all do the the same thing! The legal system is whacked!
And Go Home:
You obviously haven’t been paying attention. Downtown Palo Alto has more VCs than SandHIll.
Maybe Paul Allen can just buy all of downtown Palo Alto and move into Steve Jobs’s old house.
ODB: That won’t happen. After his death, Steve’s widow remodeled the house and re-landscaped. She started decorating the house for Halloween and allowing trick or treaters ( Steve used to stand on the sidewalk and yell at them to,stay away), and she actually decorated the house for Christmas ( reportedly, Steve did not celebrate it). I think it is safe to say she plans on staying here awhile.
Is Paul Allen a patent troll? Read this article from the Wall Street Journal and decide for yourself: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703294904575385241453119382.html
What does a real inventor like Steve Wozniak think about Paul Allen? The Woz is not shy: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/03/woz_talks_patents_and_soup/
@Mario…….Most of us natives avoid the downtown area.
I worked for Paul Allen and his “research institute”. He hires hip, young types who are cool to hang out with. They gather information for him on “the next big thing” and then he pours millions into direct rip-offs, using the legal system to sue, tie-up and deplete the originators.
It makes perfect sense he’s opening up an office downtown. “Hey, what you’re doing sounds so interesting – let me take out to dinner.”
Sorry Paul, your reputation proceeds your arrival.
WOW! I had no clue that Paul Allen was such a sleazoid ! I am disappointed that someone so wealthy cannot stop making obscene amounts of money in a dishonest way. Sounds like pathological compulsion that needs professional help!