Jon Jacobson: 2008-2009 AoA William H. Gates, Sr. Fellow in Innovation and Entrepreneurship

My position as the William H. Gates, Sr. Fellow in Innovation and Entrepreneurship is structured as a 1-year endowed fellowship through a partnership between the Alliance of Angels and the University of Washington. The fellowship is undoubtedly one of the premier experiential learning opportunities in the country for an MBA student. The position offers unequalled exposure to Seattle’s entrepreneurial community as well as access to the organization’s accomplished members as mentors, ultimately creating a truly exceptional professional development opportunity. I feel as though I put the entire breadth of my business education to work with each company I coached and screened, and looking ahead to a career in the technology sector no other position could have offered me better preparation.

I would like to think that in my 13 months here I have been able to offer up to the entrepreneurial community at least as much as this opportunity has given to me. I conducted clinics for about 100 aspiring entrepreneurs on pitching business opportunities to investors, met with over 100 companies to help with their business plans and presentations, and coached roughly 30 companies through the AoA funding process. Given the value of this fellowship to me, though, I hesitate to claim that the scales are even close to balanced. However, I can promise you that I did my best and that Seattle’s angel investors and entrepreneurs will be in excellent hands with next year’s fellow.

I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the following people who have added so much to my time at AoA: My colleagues – Vandan Parikh, Rebecca Lovell and Greg Huey; The AoA staff – Susannah Malarkey, Katy Tollefson, Amy Bell Rousso and Kristin Osborne; and the AoA membership. My greatest thanks goes out to the entrepreneurs I have worked with this year who taught me more than anyone else. Good luck to you all and I’ll see you around town soon.