Parents Pitch Johnson | ||
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Education Harvard University (1952), Stanford University (1950), Palo Alto High School (1946) Organizations founded Draper and Johnson Investment Company, Asset Management Company Similar William Henry Draper III, Bill Bowes, Donald T Valentine, William Henry Draper Jr, Brook Byers | ||
Franklin Pitcher Johnson jr., or Pitch Johnson, is a founder of multiple companies.
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Personal life
He is the son of Franklin Pitcher "Pitch" Johnson, an Olympic track and field athlete and college coach.
Encouraged by his father, Johnson won a track and field scholarship and studied mechanical engineering at Stanford University (1946–50). After attending Harvard Business School (1950–52) he joined the US Air Force (1952–54) as an aircraft maintenance officer and worked in the Inland Steel Company's Indiana Harbor Works for eight years. He married Catherine Holman in 1954.
He has a wife Catherine, three sons and one daughter. He describes himself as an Episcopalian and a Republican.
Venture capitalist
The US Congress passed a law in 1958 to foment the creation of venture capital under which the government would lend private capital. Johnson and his friend, Bill Draper, decided to co-found a venture capital company in Palo Alto. With a combination of savings and family loans, they formed Draper and Johnson Investment Company (D+J) in 1962. Johnson then took courses at Stanford at age 35 to study molecular biology and computer science. These studies were later useful for his investments in biotechnology and informatics. He says that being "a local guy" has helped him, since he knew many local entrepreneurs, lawyers and other professionals. It was easier for him to "check out" potential business partners.
In 1965 he founded a venture capital company, Asset Management Company, which is still in operation.
He helped found companies including Amgen, Biogen Idec and Tandem. He said that as a rough estimate, of every 10 companies that he help found, one would return 20 or more times the investment, 3 or 4 doubled it, and the rest didn't lose nor win money, and they had to be sold, sometimes with losses and sometimes ending even. Some don't succeed or fail and keep going: he calls them the "living dead."
Business leader and educator
He was later director of the National Venture Capital Association and of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists, and he was also a trustee of the Foothill–De Anza Community College District for 12 years. He taught a class in entrepreneurship and venture capital for 12 years at Stanford Business School, and he remained active in the faculty through 2009.
He is a member of the board of international advisers to the IESE Business School in Barcelona.
The Columbia Business School has a position named Franklin Pitcher Johnson, Jr. Professor of Finance and Economics, which was donated by his friend, Lionel Pincus.