General Partner | Investment Team
It was a chance meeting that brought Jon Feiber into the venture industry. Jon, then a vice president at Sun Microsystems, was considering leaving Sun for a startup. After a preliminary discussion about the startup at Mohr Davidow, he got an offer to join the firm.
Today, he is among Mohr Davidow’s most senior partners and is responsible for many of the firm’s successful investments. Most of Jon’s investments harness emerging technology. “I like the intersection of emerging technology and big markets – geeky projects,” he admits.
He began his career as a software programmer for mainframe maker Amdahl Corp. “I tend towards entrepreneurs who have real insight into hard problems and a sense of their need by customers.”
When Jon joined Mohr Davidow in 1991, Silicon Valley was in the midst of a downturn. “The thinking was that the Japanese were going to take over the technology industry,” he remembers. It was thought by many that the best days of the Valley were behind it. Jon trusted in the Silicon Valley’s ability to reinvent itself. “This has always been an industry that thrives on creative destruction,” he says. “And the market constantly rewards those who take that risk.”
Mohr Davidow, he believes, will remain one of the technology industry’s most successful investors because of its faith and commitment to entrepreneurs. “This firm has always been known for being direct and open in its relationships with entrepreneurs,” he explains. “Our enthusiasm for the entrepreneur is matched by depth of knowledge and experience in the areas that we choose to invest in.”
“Being a venture capitalist is one of the greatest jobs you can have,” he continues. “I get to hang out with the smartest people in the world and help them turn their ideas into world class companies.”
FACTS & STATS
• Holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics and astro-physics from the University of Colorado.
• Senior Fellow at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school) and lecturer teaching the Lean Launch Pad with Steve Blank in MS&E at Stanford University.
