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alumni rofile
Thomas O. Gephart, BSME ’62 His First Company “I was in a hurry to do things. A firm in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, thought I could help them develop new products. That firm, AMP, is now the single largest company in the Tyco group, doing something like $5 billion a year. I brought them an idea that they didn’t want to pursue. I asked if I could take it, and that’s when I really started to do things on my own. I formed Interlink, built it up, then sold it.” That success led to the first iteration of Ventana, which began in 1974. The 1970s was a time when venture capital was scarce. Gephart’s “angel group” began helping three or four companies a year get started. “In the early days, we did things like wind farms with equipment from Denmark. We did a bit of everything, from defenserelated industries to fairings for racing motorcycles,” he says. In the beginning, he did it mostly with Margie and Tom Gephart beside their 1929 Packard his own money. By 1982, he knew he had to Opera Coupe, in the carriage house facility where change if Ventana was going to compete in the couple often hosts charity events. the high-stakes venture capital game. The own first car, a 1947 Pontiac convertible.” Ventana Group mutated into Ventana Capital That same drive and energy gets Gephart Management, which today works with investor out of bed at five a.m. to call investors in and capital groups from across Europe, the Europe. It keeps him running through the late Nordic Region, Asia and the U.S. It is Gephart’s afternoon and into the night, when he connects ability to work between start-ups and estabwith investors in Asia. In between, he’s staying lished firms that brings success. The start-ups in touch with managers at the more than 70 have inventions, which he sees as the source of companies his venture capital firm, Ventana growth and wealth. Capital Management LLC, has helped to build. “We have a position with the big players “Our main emphases are in bio-pharmaceutical so we can bring our small companies together and very advanced high-tech communications with their money and their know-how. We’re and semiconductors, including wireless and really involved as business builders and in the detection technologies. We’re also moving whole corporate structuring, not just providing into MEMS and nanotech, and hope to see finance. We see ourselves as integrators of commercial realization within the near future.” capital with know-who and know-how.” Upon graduating from USC, Gephart His energy never seems to flag and he is worked at Hughes Aircraft just as the space always looking for opportunities. This spring, program and defense were ramping up. He he plans to travel to New Delhi and Bangalore completed assignments quickly and well, where Ventana has invested in a firm but he wanted more. He had a knack for developing software for interactive television spotting clever ideas with commercial and broadband. He wants to see their facilities. potential. Hughes sent the entrepreneurial At times Gephart has linked a personal dynamo back to USC for an MBA, but with passion for high-performance cars with his only a few more courses to complete his business. His Orange County, California estate degree, the ambitious Gephart left both features a 15,000-square-foot carriage house Hughes and USC behind and branched out and entertainment center where his collection on his own. of high-end finely crafted hot rods, and classic
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Gephart’s flawless 1940 Ford Woodie, was created by Boyd Coddington, one of the world’s leading builders of hot rods. and vintage Packard and Roll-Royces can be found. Most of his hot rods were built or at least partially built by Boyd Coddington, the Michelangelo of the hot rod world. Coddington cars meld the highest order of chopped, channeled, Frenched and slammed bodywork. They look like old-fashioned hot rods, but underneath they have the brakes, power steering, suspensions and sophisticated engines of the most modern performance and luxury cars. Gephart has a flawless 1941 Ford Woodie wagon with a chop top, a 1941 Cadillac coupe, a 1929 Packard opera coupe, a 1949 Ford that any rebel with or without a cause would love, a perfect 1957 Chevy Bel Air and a 1961 RollsRoyce Silver Cloud II. More than just a big garage, the carriage house also serves as a venue for the many charity events Gephart and his wife Margie host. “All my cars have taken trophies, either at concours d'elegance competitions or at roadster shows. The black ’34 Ford won the prestigious AMBR (America’s Most Beautiful Roadster) and has turned heads for years. The ’29 Packard opera coupe is a beautiful, eyecatching show piece. There is only a handful in this type of condition that still exist,” he says. “The cars are all licensed. I drive them regularly. We took the dean to dinner in the ’97 Rolls Silver Spur, which was a record-setting car at the largest gathering of Rolls Royces, and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.” Success also allows him to indulge other passions, such as collecting wines. He and his wife find time to roam the wine country in France, Spain and California’s Napa Valley. Between them they have six children and nine grandchildren. You would think there would be no time left for the USC School of Engineering. But Gephart sees his role with the Board of Councilors as more than another passion and more than just love for his alma mater. He takes continued on next page it seriously.
Gephart photos by Robert Peterson
The Horatio Alger myth of the paperboy with gumption who builds an empire is exemplified by the life of Tom Gephart. “I wanted a bike when I was a kid, bought with my own money—you know, independent money,” laughs Gephart. “So I earned the cash with paper routes. When I was 16, I bought my