The Biography

Gregory
W. Slayton

personal biography

Gregory Winston Slayton is an American author, diplomat, professor, businessman, and philanthropist.

Born in Ohio, Slayton now resides in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and children. After graduating from Dartmouth College magna cum laude in 1981 Slayton was a Fulbright Scholar to Asia – earning a Masters in Asia Studies in 1982 from the University of the Philippines. He then ran regional programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America for international non-profits such as World Vision International. In 1990 he graduated with honors from the Harvard Business School and then worked for McKinsey and Company for five years. Hired out of McKinsey to help run Paramount’s Technology Group in Palo Alto, California – Slayton remained in Silicon Valley for 10 years as a public and private company CEO and then a venture capitalist. As a CEO he was responsible for a number of successful turnarounds such as Paragraph International and MySoftware. As the Managing Director of Slayton Capital he was on the Board of Advisors of Google and Salesforce.com as well as Bloom Energy. 

Slayton was appointed by President George W. Bush as the United States Consul General and US Chief of Mission to Bermuda,a position he held for four years from his swearing in by Secretary of State Rice on August 15, 2005 until August, 2009. Slayton was extended twice by the Obama Administration. He also received the Distinguished Foreign Service Award from members of the Congressional Black Caucus.  He is the only Republican diplomat in U.S. history to be so honored.

Slayton continues to work as a venture capitalist through his firm Slayton Capital. He is the Chairman of PromoteU Digital and is actively involved with a number of early stage high tech companies.  He is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership at UIBE Business School in Beijing. He teaches on occasion at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College as well as the Harvard Business School and Stanford’s GSB. His most recent book “Be A Better Dad Today!” was published by Regal Publishing for Father’s Day 2012 and has sold almost 75,000 copies to date.

Slayton and his wife, Marina, founded the Slayton Family Foundation in 1999 and the Fellowship of Fathers Foundation in 2011.  Both are registered U.S. 501(c3)’s.

Slayton Capital’s

Education & Business Career

Slayton graduated with a degree in economics (magna cum laude) from Dartmouth College.  As a Fulbright Scholar to Asia he earned a Masters in Asian Studies and then, at Harvard Business School, a Master of Business Administration degree in 1990. Both Masters degrees were conferred with honors.

In his 20s, Slayton worked in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America managing micro-credit and economic development programs for the poor, and learning four languages in addition to English. Slayton worked for in Asia for two years running an orphanage for street children in Manila. He then worked for three years in West Africa for World Vision International where he started as a program economist and ended as a regional manager. Slayton also worked for two years in South America promoting micro-credit programs for the poor.

In his early 30s after earning his MBA from HBS, he worked for four years with McKinsey and Company in Europe, South America and the U. S., before joining Paramount Pictures as director of its Silicon Valley technology arm.

After leading a number of well-publicized high tech Silicon Valley turnarounds, he founded Slayton Capital, a private venture capital firm with offices in Northern Virginia and Silicon Valley. Slayton has served on the boards of a number of well-known high tech leaders, including the board of advisers of Google.

Slayton’s management style has been featured in a number of national publications over the years. The Wall Street Journal of October 26, 1999, featured Slayton in “Silicon Valley Hybrid: A Boss Who Makes Others’ Ideas Pay Off.” On September 27, 1999, he was pictured with other entrepreneurs on Time Magazines cover story, “GetRich.com: Inside the Secrets of the New Silicon Valley.” A number of Harvard Business School case studies have been written about his work in Silicon Valley.

Slayton has also served as a National Finance Co-Chairman for a number of US Senators including Kelly Ayotte, Susan Collins, John McCain and South Dakota Republican Senator John Thune.