Ronald Unkefer, BBA '66 - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Ventures Capital Partners

Ron is a serial entrepreneur. He grew up in Euclid and worked for a local TV and appliance store throughout high school and college. He was a first generation college student and attended Fenn College while working full-time. For his co-op opportunity, Ron worked six months in California. He held a variety of often overlapping positions and believes it was an "excellent learning experience" that allowed him the "ability to mix theory with practice" in the fields of sales, buying, merchandising, wholesaling and marketing.

After graduation, Ron worked as a store manager at two appliances stores before moving to California in 1972. There he started as a floating manager for a San Francisco Bay Area retail electronics chain and quickly made an impact. When one location was losing money and the owner intended to close it, Ron bought the lease and some old inventory for a few thousand dollars, re-merchandised the store and renamed it The Good Guys! He immediately began a citywide advertising campaign to brand his new store and expand the customer base.

As a result of his innovative sales, merchandising and advertising strategies, Ron eventually opened 71 stores that blanketed the West Coast. Ron served as Chairman and CEO, took the company public in 1986 and built the company to become the West Coast's largest and most profitable specialty retailer of consumer electronics. Ron retired as CEO in 1993, but continued to serve as Chairman of The Good Guys! until 1996 when the chain peaked at almost one billion in annual sales. In 1999 he returned as Chairman and CEO of The Good Guys! for two and a half years to keep it out of bankruptcy, revitalize the brand and lay the groundwork for the sale of the company to CompUSA in 2003.

After leaving The Good Guys! Ron founded First Ventures Capital Partners to make active investments in Silicon Valley technology start-ups at the beginning of the tech boom in the mid-1990's. Ron also founded First Broadcasting in 1992 to own and operate San Francisco radio stations KSFO and KYA. Over a ten year period, First Broadcasting became the nation's leading developer of radio stations and the company successfully petitioned the FCC to make important changes to key broadcasting spectrum rules and regulations. Under Ron's leadership, First Broadcasting also developed SpectraMax, the industry's first true spectrum maximization software. This innovative and complex software suite was co-authored by Ron and is currently protected with ten pending patents. Ron lives in the Highland Park area of Dallas with his wife, Terry, and their two daughters; he also has a grown daughter in California. He currently serves as Chairman of the Unkefer Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on helping underprivileged children and improving wellness and health care in Texas. He also still currently manages various First Ventures Capital Partners investments, owns and operates two radio stations, and is exploring ideas for his next major business venture. Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur.