Ron's specialty is emergencies. He spoke at YC on tuesday, and about 80% of his stories involved a startup running into some horrible problem that he managed to fix working behind the scenes. He wasn't bragging; that's just what Ron's life is like. Then on thursday Jack Dorsey came to speak, and told everyone about a point early in Square's history when they ran up against what appeared to be a brick wall. Then he paused, during which everyone wondered what ingenious solution he had come up with, and continued "so I called up Ron Conway," and the whole room burst into laughter.
I advise every startup that wants to make it really big to get Ron as an investor. Having Ron in your cap table is like having a fire extinguisher onboard.
He only looks at companies from trusted sources so finding those sources and having their ears leads to grabbing his attention. How does someone get on Ron's radar when they aren't in the valley? Is it a stretch to assume he has sources coming from outside the valley as well?
The best way to get the attention of any investor is through other people they've funded. Fortunately in Ronco's case that means you have lots of options.
I advise every startup that wants to make it really big to get Ron as an investor. Having Ron in your cap table is like having a fire extinguisher onboard.