Ron Conway is an American angel investor, based in Silicon Valley. As founder and Managing Partner of the Angel Investors LP funds, he was an early stage investor in Google, Ask Jeeves and PayPal, which was sold to online auctioneers eBay in July 2002 for $1.5bn. Since 2005 he has been investing independently, achieving sixth place in the Forbes Magazine Midas list of top "dealmakers" in 2006.

Conway previously worked with National Semiconductor Corporation in marketing positions (1973-1979), Altos Computer Systems, as a co-founder, President and CEO, (1979-1990) and Personal Training Systems (PTS) as CEO (1991-1995). PTS was acquired by SmartForce/SkillSoft.

A former salesman who had made a fortune in the computer business, it is alleged that Conway knew next to nothing about technology on his first entry to the business. The story goes that an assistant would print out an e-mail message so he could then read it and hand scribble a reply that she would then keypunch in.

However, he is recognised as a strong networker, which helped him to secure funds for, among ventures, a web site to supply veterinary medical supplies, a weight-loss site, a maternity site and an e-commerce company featuring a search engine that aimed to predict the buyer's mood.

Some Valley observers, notably VentureBeat, have been critical of Ron Conway for his investments during the Internet boom, believing them to be "symbolic of the era’s hubris." Conway developed a reputation for throwing lavish cocktail parties and raising cash from a diverse group of celebrities, sportspeople and political figures such as Henry Kissinger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods and Shaquille O'Neal, which he then ploughed into start-ups.