Venture capitalist, owner of NHL San Jose Sharks to speak at Evangel during Homecoming week

October 4, 2006
Contact: Chuck Cox, alumni relations director, 865-2815 Ext. 7333.

Springfield, MO. — Kevin Compton, venture capitalist and owner of the NHL San Jose Sharks, will be the featured speaker at Evangel’s Homecoming Celebration Banquet Saturday, Oct. 14, at 6:30 p.m. in the University Plaza Convention Center.

In addition, “A Conversation with Kevin Compton,” presented by the Evangel Department of Business and SIFE/PBL, will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. on Friday, October 13, in AB-II, Room 101. He will share with students and alumni his business experiences and expertise, followed by a question and answer session.

Compton, a 1980 Evangel alumnus, has been rated one of the top 20 venture capitalists in the world. He can also be found on the “Midas List,” which records the “best dealmakers in life sciences” (Forbes.com).

Compton has been a partner with Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers www.kpcb.com since 1990. KPBC is the number one venture capital firm in the world and helps develop companies by forming relationships with global business leaders and providing initial funds, according to their Web site. Significant investments include Google, VeriSign, Netscape, AOL, Quicken/Intuit, Compaq and Amazon.com.

He is currently a member of the Board of Directors for VeriSign and Citrix Systems.

Previously, Compton worked as the vice president and general manager of Businessland (now Siemens), where he led sales to increase from under $70 million to more than $1.4 billion, causing the company to become the number one supplier worldwide of local area networks for three consecutive years.

One of his latest ventures is Protrade, a company that evaluates athletes statistically, so people can trade them like stocks.

Compton met his wife at Evangel. They have two grown children and live in California.

To register for the banquet online, visit www.evangel.edu. Tickets are $15 per person.