Regis McKenna, who opened his public relations firm in 1970, is a Silicon Valley wise man -- a counselor, confessor, mentor and marketer. He was famously in on the ground floor of Intel and Apple and
has left his fingerprints on dozens of other success stories.
McKenna remembers his first meeting, in 1977, with Steve Jobs, who favored long hair and sandals and was pitching a personal
computer. McKenna suggested Jobs and partner Steve Wozniak go see venture capitalist Don Valentine. "Valentine basically called me up and said, 'Why did you send me these renegades from the human
race?' In the end, it all worked out pretty well."
McKenna also was there when Intel was just starting out, and frankly, nobody cared. "One of the well-known magazines ... when I sent
them information on one of Intel's products, they sent it back to me and asked to be taken off the mailing list,'' he recalls. Now 69, McKenna and a son run an investment company that provides angel
funding. He also does consulting and is on a few start-up boards. "It keeps your mind active,'' he says.
advertisement
advertisement
Read the whole story at San Jose Mercury News »