David McClure is an angel investor, entrepreneur, and another member of the PayPal mafia. Born in Morgantown, West Virginia, McClure graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Engineering in 1988. While the exact circumstances are unclear, McClure found his way to PayPal in 2001 and served as its director of marketing until 2004. McClure popularized the AARRR Funnel and Pirate Metrics.
Read Next: PayPal Mafia
Early career
Post-university, McClure worked as a software developer for Microsoft and Intel where, among other things, he created client-service applications and database systems.
He then founded tech consultancy firm Aslan Computing in 1994, sold it four years later to Servinet (now Panurgy), and worked briefly for that company until stepping down in the second half of 1999.
Venture capital endeavors
After a brief stint at the LinkedIn-esque platform known as Simply Hired, McClure decided to move on. He wanted to break into the VC industry, but because of the dire economic climate in the early to mid-2000s, he found securing employment difficult.
In 2008, he was offered a position at Founders Fund by Napster founder Sean Parker. McClure initially turned the offer down, but later changed his mind.
McClure was keen to strike out on his own, however, and left Founders Fund in 2010 to found the VC firm 500 Startups with Christine Tsai. There, he oversaw the investment of around $500 million across more than 2,500 start-ups.
After voluntarily stepping down from 500 Startups in 2017, McClure then founded Practical Venture Capital. On the firm’s website, it promotes the “Skip the J-Curve” strategy which promotes buying venture portfolios and companies between 5 and 10 years old.
Read Also: PayPal Mafia
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