>>>John Martinson had a plan when
he graduated high school: he’d
enter the U.S. Air Force and
become a pilot—all in an effort to
become an astronaut.
>>>His plan worked out, partly. He
served as acombatpilotonmorethan
500 missions for the Air Force. He
earned his bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S.Air
Force Academy in Colorado Springs,
Colo., and a master’s degree in astronautics
fromPurdueUniversity.
>>>However, at 6 foot 2 inches, he
was considered too tall for space.
>>>After his discharge, Martinson
returned to his native Bergen County. A
neighbor suggested that he try working
in venture capital at Exxon Enterprises.
>>>“I didn’t even know what the
word ‘venture capital’ meant,”
Martinson recalls.
>>>His neighbor pointed out a logical
reason why Martinson might be good
at venture capital: You need to be cool
under fire, like a combat pilot, and
possess business knowledge.
>>>Exxon Enterprises was all about
oil exploration —when one well ran
dry, it was time to find another,
Martinson says.
>>>“It was the only business model I
know of when it was OK to lose
money,” he says. “The whole idea
was to build large companies fast.”
>>>That fast-growing environment
was exciting for Martinson, who now
says that it didn’t seem real.
>>>“Business is not like an oil well,”
he says. “People do lose money.”
>>>Eventually, Martinson moved to
another firm where he focused on a
hotbed of new business: the west.
>>>In 1985 alone, he took 28 red-eye
flights to California and Texas. It was
also the year his wife, Margaret, told
him she was going to have a baby,
and he knew he wouldn’t be able to
be a good father if he kept traveling.
In 1986, with support from his
wife, Martinson created the Edison
Venture Fund, a firm that partners
with entrepreneurs, service providers
and other financing sources to build
successful companies.
>>>He is proud that his familyfocused
company never puts a business
event before a school event or a
teacher conference.
>>>In his career, Martinson has
guided 150 equity financings and
served as director of 40 companies. |
|
>>>His company has financed 39
private New Jersey-based companies.
He is currently a director of Dendrite
in Bedminster, Sela2 in Morris Plains
and Sentrx in Little Falls. He has led
multiple investments in application
software in the drug industry, customer
relation management, education,
human resources, manufacturing
and engineering.
>>>His company provides Martinson
with another mission.
>>>His Lawrenceville company houses
one of the largest Thomas Edison
memorabilia collections in the world.
This is one of Martinson’s hobbies.
>>>“(Edison) is a role model to
entrepreneurs,” he says. “He founded
General Electric.”
>>>Martinson says that when he
started his company, he picked software—
the right industry to invest in.
>>>“You can build a valuable
growth company without large
amounts of money,” he says.
>>>His best advice for entrepreneurs
is to build a team of people
they can rely on, a team that is better
than they are. He also advises
entrepreneurs to never lose sight of
the mission—to make a sale.
>>>Martinson is most proud that his
company has not only made him
and the other founders money, it
has turned 10 business owners into
millionaires as well.
>>>“Lots of families have been
impacted,” he says. “They have been
able to send their kids to college.”
>>>Education is something that
Martinson takes seriously. He and his
wife established a foundation to fund
20 grants to colleges to help develop
programs for high school science and
math teachers. One of those grants
helped Rutgers University create two
science buses filled with experiments
designed to excite kids about science,
Martinson says.
>>>The goal is to create more inventors
and entrepreneurs in the United States.
>>>Martinson is concerned about
the low number of college students
majoring in engineering. Of the 45
software company owners Edison
Venture has helped fund, more than
half are foreign-born.
>>>“Our thought is that the teacher
is in a position to influence kids—
make them more comfortable with
science,” he says.
>>>Perhaps, one of those kids will
become an astronaut.
Visit Edison Venture Fund's Website |
