10 Things You Didn’t Know About Entrepreneur Jon Fisher
Silicon Valley is a hotspot of tech popups, smart millionaires, and thriving entrepreneurs. It’s not that easy to stand out in such a crowd, but there are a few that do. Jon Fisher—entrepreneur, author, investor, speaker, and more—has managed to do more than just stand out. Fisher has established himself as one of the best in his industry. He’s got a lot to offer up and coming entrepreneurs wanting to make their mark in the world, and so he is definitely worth knowing. Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about Vassar Alumni Jon Fisher that you ought to learn.
1. Academic
Fisher comes from a family of academics. Both his parents were university professors at Stanford, Gerald and Anita Fisher. His father actually worked with some Nobel laureates including Arthur Schawlow, Felix Bloch, and Robert Hofstadter. Even though Fisher was also born at the Stanford Hospital, he ended up not going to school there. After attending The Nueva School in his primary years and graduating from Crystal Springs Uplands during high school, Fisher moved to the east coast for college. He attended Vassar College in New York for a bit before moving back to California to finish school. He ended up graduating with a degree from the University of San Francisco.
2. Cofounder
Throughout his career, Fisher founded or cofounded a few companies. These startups range in industries. In 1994, he cofounded and was CEO of a company called AutoReach. AutoReach has since become part of AutoNation. In 1998, he also cofounded and was CEO of Netclerk, which has since become part of Roper Technologies. Ten years later in 2004, Fisher cofounded and was CEO of Bharosa, which has also since been acquired by another company—the Oracle Corporation.
3. CEO
Fisher is probably best known for his company, CrowdOptic, Inc. He cofounded the company and was elected as CEO among his peers. CrowdOptic is one of the more successful companies that offer augmented reality technology for other industries including medicine, sports, and incident response. CrowdOptic has since partnered with another tech giant, Hewlett Packard, to improve on current software, hardware, and the general computer market.
4. Young star
At only 47 years old, Jon Fisher has already established quite a bit in the business world. His work as an entrepreneur didn’t go by unnoticed. In 2006, the American City Business Journals awarded him with the accolade of one of the Forty Under 40 to watch out for. In 2007, Ernst & Young also awarded him Entrepreneur of the Year. He hasn’t stopped since, and he’s still on his way to doing bigger and greater things.
5. Author
Aside from being a successful entrepreneur, Fisher is also an author. So far he’s written one book, and it’s about what he’s good at: entrepreneurship. The book was published in 2008 and is called Strategic Entrepreneurism: Shattering the Start-Up Entrepreneurial Myths. This book is so useful that it’s actually required reading for an MBA program—the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
6. Teacher
One of the things that Fisher isn’t credited often for is his teaching. Fisher is actually an adjunct professor at his alma mater—the University of San Francisco. Combined with his working knowledge and incredible experience in the world of business, Fisher’s just a natural teacher given his genetics. We can imagine that his classes must fill out quickly at the university. Fisher certainly qualifies as celebrity in his industry.
7. Patentee
Adding to his list of already lengthy accomplishments, Fisher is also an inventor. He’s actually named on over 100 patents globally. That alone is an achievement worthy of recognition, but Fisher has his name as co-patentee on a few important inventions. He was awarded a patent with Bharosa on contextual authentication. That particular patent received an additional 5 patents and is pending 12 more. He’s also co-patentee on a electronic device triangulation software through CrowdOptic’s partnership with Glass at Work. Fisher’s company is actually the only company with issued patents while partnered up with Google’s Glass at Work.
8. Philanthropist
As busy as he may be, Fisher still makes sure he sets time aside to give back to his community. In the past, Fisher has served as trustee of his old school, The Nueva School. He was also the commencement speaker during the 2018 graduation ceremony at the University of San Francisco. Fisher has also served as trustee and member of the board for a couple of research foundations in California. The first is the Pacific Vascular Research Foundation and the second is the Buck Institute for Age Research.
9. Family man
Fisher got married in 2002 to one Darla Kincheloe, the owner of Koze clothing boutiques. The two had their daughter 8 years after they married. Fisher is very close to his family. He’s said that he’d never trade time with his family for billions in money. At the end of the day, all of his hard work is for his family.
10. Father
Following his love for his family, Fisher also deeply believes that children are the heart of the future. Fisher believes that children are the greatest invention ever. As quoted from Grit Daily, Fisher has said that he “invented something that many of you use every day, and it doesn’t compare to any day with a happy, healthy child. Hold your children up high as your greatest inventions because they are.” Fisher’s circle is full of broken families and divorce, and it seems success is the common ingredient. Fisher’s goal is to avoid that completely by focusing on the things that matter the most.