Directed by Emmy-Award-winning filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine (Ballets Russes), Something Ventured maps the creation of an industry that went on to become the single greatest engine of innovation and economic growth in the 20th century. The story is told through the visionary risk-takers who dared to make it happen: Tom Perkins, Don Valentine, Arthur Rock, Dick Kramlich and others. The film also features some of the country s finest entrepreneurs and their stories with the venture capitalists to grow world-class companies like Intel, Apple, Cisco, Atari, Genentech, Tandem and others.
Beginning in the late 1950s, this small group of high rollers fostered a one-of-a-kind business culture that encouraged extraordinary risk and made possible unprecedented rewards. They laid the groundwork for America s start-up economy providing not just the capital but also the guidance to allow seedling companies to reach their full potential. Our lives would be dramatically different without the contributions that these venture capitalists made to the creation of PCs, the Internet and life-saving drugs.
DVD Special Features include:
Five deleted scenes, including additional interviews on Steve Jobs and the founding of Apple
English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
HD transfer, enhanced for widescreen viewing
"Something Ventured" is a fascinating documentary about the beginnings of the venture capital industry in the 1960's, and it's rise as one of the primary sources of startup capital. All of the early movers and shakers (Arthur Rock, Tom Perkins, Eugene Kliener, and many others), are still around, and willing to share their stories, lesssons, successes and failures. As a bonus, the documentary also covers the founding stories of Fairchild, Intel, Atari, Cisco, Genentech, Apple and a few others, through interviews with the founders and their funders.
Short, packed with great interviews and many great lessons, and definitely worth watching if you're an (aspiring) entrepreneur, or curious about the business of venture capital.
Something Ventured is a 2011 documentary film investigating the emergence of American venture capitalism in the mid-20th Century. Something Ventured follows the stories of the venture capitalists who worked with entrepreneurs to start and build companies like Apple, Intel, Genentech, Cisco, Atari,Tandem, and others. Something Ventured is a full-length independent film which includes interviews with prominent American venture capitalists and entrepreneurs of the 1960s, 70s and 80s, as well as archival photography and footage. The film has aired across the US on local PBS stations as well as on public television in Norway. The film is available on iTunes, Netflix, Amazon.com and from Zeitgeist Films.
Something Ventured features the venture capitalistsArthur Rock, Tom Perkins, Don Valentine, Dick Kramlich, Reid Dennis, Bill Draper, Pitch Johnson, Bill Bowes, Bill Edwards, and Jim Gaither. The entrepreneurs featured in Something Ventured areGordon Moore (co-founder of Intel), Jimmy Treybig(founder of Tandem), Nolan Bushnell (founder ofAtari), Dr. Herbert Boyer (co-founder of Genentech),Mike Markkula (second president/CEO of Apple),Sandy Lerner (co-founder of Cisco), John Morgridge(early CEO of Cisco), and Robert Campbell (founder of what would become PowerPoint).
Narrated by author Po Bronson, Something Venturedpremiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2011. Something Ventured was conceived by Paul Holland of Foundation Capital, who executive produced the film with co-executive producer Molly Davis of Rainmaker Communications.Something Ventured was directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine (co-directors of Ballets Russes. Something Ventured’s North American distribution partner isZeitgeist Films.
ProductionExecutive Producer: Paul Holland and Molly Davis
Director: Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller
Producer: Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller and Celeste Schaefer Snyder
Editor: Jen Bradwell and Gary Weimberg
Original Music and Score: Laura Karpman
Narrator: Po Bronson
Cinematography: Dan Geller
Sound: Richard Beggs
Press- 'Something Ventured' April 24, 2011. San Francisco Chronicle.
- 'Something Ventured' KQED Radio. April 22, 2011.
- When Venture Capital Was an Adventure Inc. April 22, 2011.
- 'Something Ventured' tells story of tech investors San Francisco Chronicle. April 18, 2011.
- Directors Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller on John Stossel show - FOX Business on YouTubeFox Business. April 14, 2011.
- SXSW Reviews-Something Ventured Variety. April 3, 2011.
- Holland Says New Film Features Early Venture Capitalists: Video Bloomberg Television. March 18, 2011.
- Venture Capitalism, A Love Story Fox Business. March 16, 2011.
- A Risk Worth Taking The Dylan Ratigan Show. March 15, 2011.
- SXSW: “Something Ventured” Directors Talk Venture Capital Early Days TechNewsDaily. March 15, 2011.
- The Good Guys in Business CNBC. March, 14th, 2011.
- Talking with the Directors of 'Something Ventured' NBC. Austin, TX. March 12, 2011.
- Veni Vidi Venture: The unlikely heroes of big business The Austin Chronicle. March 11, 2011.
- A Film About Capitalism, and (Surprise) It’s A Love Story The New York Times. March 7, 2011.
