Margie and Tom Gephart beside their 1929 Packard Opera Coupe in the carriage house where the couple often hosts charity events.

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 own first car, a 1947 Pontiac convertible.”

That same drive and energy gets Gephart out of bed at five a.m. to call investors in Europe. It keeps him running through the late afternoon and into the night, when he connects with investors in Asia. In between, he’s staying in touch with managers at the more than 70 companies his venture capital firm, Ventana Capital Management LLC, has helped to build. “Our main emphases are in bio-pharmaceutical and very advanced high-tech communications and semiconductors, including wireless and detection technologies.We’re also moving into MEMS and nanotech, and hope to see commercial realization within the near future.”

Upon graduating from USC, Gephart worked at Hughes Aircraft just as the space program and defense were ramping up. He completed assignments quickly and well, but he wanted more. He had a knack for spotting clever ideas with commercial potential. Hughes sent the entrepreneurial dynamo back to USC for an MBA, but with only a few more courses to complete his degree, the ambitious Gephart left both Hughes and USC behind and branched out on his own.

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 his own money. By 1982, he knew he had to change if Ventana was going to compete in the high-stakes venture capital game. The Ventana Group mutated into Ventana Capital Management, which today works with investor and capital groups from across Europe, the Nordic Region, Asia and the U.S. It is Gephart’s ability to work between start-ups and established firms that brings success. The start-ups have inventions, which he sees as the source of growth and wealth.

“We have a position with the big players so we can bring our small companies together with their money and their know-how.We’re really involved as business builders and in the whole corporate structuring, not just providing finance.We see ourselves as integrators of capital with know-who and know-how.”

Gephart's flawless 1940 Ford Woodie was created by Boyd Coddington, one of the world's leading builders of hot rods.

His energy never seems to flag and he is always looking for opportunities. This spring, he plans to travel to New Delhi and Bangalore where Ventana has invested in a firm developing software for interactive television and broadband. He wants to see their facilities. At times Gephart has linked a personal passion for high-performance cars with his business. His Orange County, California estate

features a 15,000-square-foot carriage house and entertainment center where his collection of high-end finely crafted hot rods, and classic 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 Rolls- Royce 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 it seriously.

“Our company, Ventana, has successfully transferred highly advanced and experimental technologies out of universities and into commercial enterprises. University labs can be excellent incubators for technologies that can change the world,” Gephart says. He believes there are technologies gestating in engineering labs at USC that are nearly ready for the great leap into the private sector, and he wants to help them make that leap.

“By generously sharing his wealth of knowledge about technology and commerce, Tom Gephart has already had a very positive impact on the School of Engineering,” says Dean C. L.Max Nikias. “Together, I hope we can soon develop a program to move promising technologies out of USC and into the commercial sector.” The dean knows if that anyone can help him do that, it’s Tom Gephart.