The California Gold Rush attracted 300,000 fortune seekers from around the world—half sailed through the Golden Gate on square-riggers. These sea-hardened 49ers transformed a sleepy village of 200 into a brawling boomtown of 150,000.
As gold nuggets rolled through the dance halls of San Francisco, some who “struck it rich” overnight began building, betting on, and racing boats that they couldn’t have afforded a few years earlier.
Ron will recount the "wild west" origins of racing on San Francisco Bay, which focuses on the history of the early days of San Francisco.
About The Speaker: Over the last 63 years, Ron Young has competed in >3,000 races (often >100/year) on 4 continents. In 2018, Ron was named (by the 123-year-old Pacific Interclub Yachting Association) the Lloyd Ryland Yachting Historian of the Year for producing over 800 talks on hundreds of sailing and nautical topics.
Ron calls himself a serial entrepreneur with three start-ups that achieved nine-digit exits totaling almost $1 billion and a track record of success at companies that lead their markets, including: Levi's, CVS, Electronic Arts, Nokia, Yipes, Cisco. He founded a global telecommunications industry association, the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF), which has more than 280 member companies worldwide. Ron’s initiatives have been honored by more than 50 business and advertising awards, including a CLIO (for Levi's advertising), an ADDY, an ANDY, a dozen Product of the Year award's, Red Herring Top 100, Top 10 and # 1 Company awards. Ron is a Life Member of Mensa.
This event is organized by the Stanford Women's Club of San Francisco who have invited us to co-sponsor it. Their Club is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding this year. In only 90 years, NEXT Village will celebrate our 100th anniversary. Meanwhile we are excited to be celebrating our 10th anniversary this year!
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