Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance is perhaps best known for his 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which was widely hailed as an intimate portrait of rural, working-class resentment that helped put Donald Trump in the White House. The selection of Vance, who the former President announced as his running mate on Monday at the Republican National Convention, however, could benefit the world of venture capital, where the populist Ohio senator spent most of his professional career before heading into politics.
Vance is the first former venture capitalist on a major party ticket since Mitt Romney, who lost the presidential race to Barack Obama in 2012. Vance’s footprint in the VC space, however, is not extensive and mostly tied to his association with his biggest backer, Peter Thiel.
