Those who know the name J.D. Vance probably know it from his best-selling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," released last June and focusing on the economic and social hardships of Rust Belt Americans. And while those in D.C. may be familiar with Vance and his work in the context of explaining Donald Trump's improbably election victory, they will soon know him for his new role: a partner at Revolution focused on expanding the Rise of the Rest initiative.
Vance will start his new position on March 27, per a press release, and he'll kickoff the new role as the keynote speaker at the first Rise of the Rest Summit in D.C. on March 30-31. Vance will continue to be engaged in Mithril Capital Management, the VC fund co-founded by Peter Thiel and Ajay Royan.
"He has been a venture capitalist investor, he has that investment perspective. But coupling that, he also has a platform and he has a voice," Revolution co-founder Steve Case told DC Inno. "He'll be traveling across the country talking about the themes of the book, and part of that is bringing more jobs to more parts of the country that do feel left behind. For us, it's a dual benefit."
As a part of his focus on Rise of the Rest, Vance will identify and invest in startups outside of Silicon Valley, New York and Boston. It makes sense seeing as Vance made headlines last year when he announced he would be moving from the Valley back to his home state of Ohio. This and his resume make Vance the perfect guy for the job, Case says.
"About three months ago, he told me he was moving back to Ohio, and we talked a bit about the Rise of the Rest initiative. He was intrigued by it because part of the reason why he moved back to Ohio was to be helpful and try to create more jobs there, more opportunity there," Case said. Vance will split his time between Columbus, Ohio, Washington, D.C. and traveling for the Rise of the Rest tour.
"Hillbilly Elegy" isn't just any old book from a seasoned Silicon Valley tech investor. The book highlights the culture that Vance was raised in, including insights into what the white working class likes about Donald Trump and the promises he brings with him into the Oval Office. Vance also takes his insights and stories a step further, as any good VC would, and provides a few policy recommendations to improve the lives of those in the white working class—such as child protective services reform.
Vance isn't the first tech figure to try to shed light on lesser-known tech hubs and cities. Nationally, we see Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg on a U.S. listening tour where he hopes to visit at least 30 states by the end of 2017. Steve Case, of course, kicked off Rise of the Rest and his book "The Third Wave" highlights the importance of looking outside of Silicon Valley. Locally, we're seeing ex-Disruption Corp founder Paul Singh going on his North American Tech Tour in an effort to invest in great ideas in smaller cities.
For Revolution, they're excited to see where Rise of the Rest goes now with Vance on board, beside Anna Mason, who will continue to oversee the program, as well.
"It's really just accelerating it," Case said. "We started Rise of the Rest about three years ago, made a couple dozen personal seed investments and we now want to expand that to make more investments and see more parts of the country."
Images courtesy of Revolution
