Spencer Maughan is an Australian expat based in California. When not consulting to Silicon Valley venture capitalists (including Top 10 VC firm Venrock), he spends his time attempting to rid the world of Malaria. I caught up with Maughan three weeks ago, just as his Facebook application, Fight Malaria, was entering Beta Testing.

Rupert Murdoch and Spencer Maughan, 2008

More about Spencer Maughan…

With a string of academic qualifications as long as your arm, Spencer Maughan would at first glance seem an unlikely adviser to venture capitalists in the cut-throat landscape of the Silicon Valley investment community. Maughan completed a PhD in Genetics from the University of Melbourne. He then re-located to the UK, as a Marie Curie Fellow at Cambridge University, where he researched malaria-related drug-resistance genes, work which was recognised by the UK Parliament.

A shift in focus brought Maughan to the US where he completed an MBA at Stanford University concentrating on early-stage investment finance and entrepreneurship as a AAA-Macquarie Bank Fellow. Over this period he was one of 18 delegates to attend the 20/20 satellite conference in Washington DC hosted by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to discuss technology and early-stage capital markets.

Within Silicon Valley, Maughan has consulted to various private equity firms including top-tier venture capitalists, with a focus on cleantech and life science investment. Currently he is developing a cause-based Facebook application and an associated platform to facilitate donations through social media.