Sam Perry, the Reuters correspondent turned startup investor, has always been moderately famous in Silicon Valley circles. But he got a taste of real fame when TV host Oprah Winfrey cried on his shoulder, on camera, while watching Barack Obama's victory speech.

Oprah invited Perry on her show, as this clip shows, and thanked him. But Perry should be thanking Oprah. This is why every geek switches from blogging about APIs to blathering about politics. None of Perry's venture-capital investments would ever have gotten him on Oprah — but his volunteer work for Obama's campaign did.

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