Insights from the life of early Amazon investor and Seattle business leader Tom Alberg
GeekWire
GeekWire
4.8 • 127 Ratings
🗓️ 13 August 2022
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Seattle investor and business leader Tom Alberg, who died last week at the age of 82, was a key figure in the e-commerce and wireless industries, and in the Seattle startup community, through his roles as an early Amazon investor and longtime board member, executive at McCaw Cellular, and co-founder of Madrona Venture group.
On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, Todd Bishop and John Cook share their own insights from Alberg's life. See our earlier coverage for more on Alberg’s legacy; read tributes from his friends and colleagues; and see Madrona’s LinkedIn post for more remembrances from those who worked with and knew Alberg during his life and career.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When did you make your first investment in Amazon? |
| 0:02.0 | 95. Did you ever imagine they would become what they've become? I never imagined. I mean, Jeff was obviously a very smart person. He had a really well-defined plan. I was in love with the Internet. I was willing to risk $50,000. I don't think Jeff imagined either. His business plan was we were going to break even in year two. |
| 0:26.2 | Hi, and welcome to Geekwire. I'm Geekwire co-founder Todd Bishop. And I'm Geekwire co-founder John Cook. |
| 0:32.0 | We are coming to you from Seattle, where we get to report each day on what's happening around us in tech, science, and innovation. |
| 0:38.4 | What happens here matters everywhere. |
| 0:40.4 | And every week on this show, we talk about some of the biggest stories in the news. |
| 0:45.2 | John, this past week, we reported on the passing of really a legend in the Seattle tech community. |
| 0:52.5 | Tom Alberg died at the age of 82 years old. |
| 0:57.0 | And what's remarkable about Tom from my perspective is the fact that he was not a household |
| 1:03.7 | name nationally, despite the fact that he really shaped entire industries. If you look at his early roles in e-commerce and wireless |
| 1:16.2 | technologies through Amazon and his initial investment and his belief in Jeff Bezos, and also his |
| 1:24.0 | early role with Macaw Cellular, which was the forerunner of AT&T Wireless. |
| 1:30.3 | Tom was the co-founder and one of the leaders of Madrona Venture Group, which is the largest venture capital firm based in Seattle. |
| 1:39.6 | Coming up, we're going to play a clip from one of our past interviews with Tom. |
| 1:43.8 | But before we do that, |
| 1:44.7 | John, I just want to get your thoughts on his significance in the Seattle tech community and |
| 1:49.8 | in the broader world. Yeah, it's really interesting, Todd, hearing you talk about maybe how he |
| 1:54.7 | wasn't as well known on the national stage. Certainly in Seattle, he was very, very well regarded and well known. |
| 2:03.6 | And in the venture capital ranks, I think Tom was extremely well respected. |
| 2:09.2 | But he wasn't a household name like you hear about like Mark Andresen or John Doer or |
| 2:16.6 | Bill Gurley or some of these pretty well-known venture |
| 2:20.8 | capitalists. And I guess part of that is probably Tom's personality. He was very understated. |
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