Printable Biography of Alan Patricof

Alan Patricof is the founder and managing director of Greycroft, LLC.  A longtime innovator and advocate for venture capital, Mr. Patricof entered the industry in its formative days with the creation of Patricof & Co. Ventures Inc., a predecessor to Apax Partners, Inc. of which he was founder and chairman.  In 2006, this led to his formation of Greycroft Partners, a venture capital firm focused on the digital media sector. 

During the past 40 years, he has participated in the financing and development of a large number of public and private companies. He has helped foster and grow a number of global companies, such as Apple Computer, America Online, Cadence Systems, Office Depot, FORE Systems, Cellular Communications, Inc., NTL and Audible, Inc.  He was also a founder and chairman of the board of New York magazine, which later acquired the Village Voice and New West magazine.  Currently, Mr. Patricof sits on the boards of Boston Properties, Pump Audio, Content Next, Handmark, Inc., The Newsmarket, and VoodooVox.

Mr. Patricof has also applied his knowledge and experience on a pro bono basis to address social inequities in the developing world, traveling extensively in Asia, Latin America, and Africa and writing extensively on venture capital and the challenges these regions face. He has served as an advisor to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the commercial arm of the World Bank; a member of the UNDP Commission on Private Sector & Development; a member of the African Policy Board of the Council on Foreign Relations; an Advisory Board member of the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA); and a Board Member of the Nigerian Honorary International Investor Council.

Mr. Patricof is active in the New York community as a board member of both the New York Small Business Venture Fund and New Jobs for New York Association, and he currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Columbia University Graduate School of Business.  His philanthropic activities also include service on the boards of TechnoServe, Trickle Up Program, National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), and the Global Advisory Board of Endeavor, Inc.

Mr. Patricof holds a BS in finance from Ohio State University and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He lives in New York City with his wife Susan. He has three sons, Mark, Jon and Jamie and five grandchildren, Lily, Nina, Jack, Chloe and Riley.