Don Craven

Background

About Don Craven

I was raised in Austin where I’ve been an entrepreneur for over 25 years. I bootstrapped my first IT venture, Flood Data Services, out of my apartment. A few years later, I was fortunate enough to be named Ernst & Young’s Austin Entrepreneur of the Year, after securing exclusive, enterprise-wide contracts with 8 of the top 10 mortgage companies, including Bank of America, Citibank, Chase Manhattan, and Wells Fargo. I sold most of FDSI to First American Financial (NYSE: FAF), where we continued to turn mortgage services - title searches, appraisals, tax service, etc - from paper into digital data. The unit was spun off in 2010 as CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), now the world’s leading provider of real estate information services. I love the creative process and working with early stage concepts, whatever that might entail. I’ve made a film, World War IV: A Letter to the President, which was nominated for the Grand Prix at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2007. I also helped develop Austin’s Warehouse District, and started a nightclub (Speakeasy) – all very different from IT, but have found a commonality in the process – they all started with a vision. Like most entrepreneurs, I’ve also had my share of duds. I graduated from UT Austin with a BBA degree and a minor in Biochemistry. I live in Austin where I'm active in the start-up community, and have been a Partner at the Capital Factory - the center of gravity for start-ups in Austin - since 2013, and am actively invested in and advising over 12 growing companies. I run a small family foundation, the Craven Family Foundation, that gives to local causes and sponsors scholarship awards to underprivileged high school seniors. I love to travel, and, time permitting, am open to meet with anyone passionately committed to a start-up.