John Ason liked the chase…and the monetary reward was good too. A few weeks ago John passed away in Hong Kong while speaking at a venture capital conference John’s success as an angel investor brought him a life with much greater adventure than he anticipated, following his career in the Bell System: Western Electric and then Lucent Technologies.
His first success was an investment in a toy that was being promoted at a New Jersey venture fair over 20 years ago…which his wife Judith Sheft prodded him to attend. He hit pay dirt with that investment and his new life as an angel investor had a great start.
While many angel investors focus on industries that they know well, John was an agnostic investor—moving from one tech startup to another with a set of investment criteria that he established and then followed, gaining notable returns. During the 20 plus years as an angel, John made 80 eclectic investments in a variety of industries.
As his wife Judith explained, “John liked to invest in industries with interesting founders in areas that were new to him. He said he liked to invest in industries he knew nothing about.
Over time he was involved in some great investment exits that included Diapers.com, Jet.com, and Centrak…… But despite having the appearances of a tough investor holding his funded entrepreneurs to a high standard, John enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing an entrepreneur grow and be successful. Having a small part of that excitement kept him motivated, long after he had built up the monetary rewards.
