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Williams: Late 1990s Silicon Valley fundraising was strictly a connections game

Ev Williams · Twitter, Medium and Blogger: Ev Williams · May 6, 2024 · at 20:11

Ev Williams reflects on attempting to raise venture funding on Sand Hill Road for Pyra Labs in late 1998.

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“And it was frustrating because everything you read is like, oh, it's so easy to raise money just rolling down the Sand Hill Road, and I didn't know anyone. Like, especially at the time, it's very, very much a connection game”

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