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Must an Investor Love the Product, According to Jonathan Sposato?

On What Fuels You, Jonathan Sposato tells Shauna Swerland that an entrepreneur or investor does not have to be great at the thing they back. They do have to be a student of it. He says he would invest in an online fashion company, and has, even if the founder is not particularly fashionable, as long as that person is paying close attention to how customers behave. That attention is what counts. Sposato is speaking as the angel who had announced he would invest only in companies founded by women, and as chairman of PicMonkey and GeekWire.

Transcript

Jonathan Sposato ·

What Fuels You

More from this episode

  1. Who Is Jonathan SposatoJonathan Sposato is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and CEO. Currently a chairman of GeekWire and Pic Monkey.
  2. What Investing Rule Did Jonathan Sposato Set for Female Founders?Shauna Swerland opens What Fuels You by introducing Jonathan Sposato as the first person to sell two companies to Google, and as the Seattle investor who made…
  3. What Does Jonathan Sposato Say Fuels Him?At the opening of his What Fuels You interview, Jonathan Sposato tells host Shauna Swerland that helping other people is the top answer, and that it took him…
  4. Was Jonathan Sposato Always Willing to Be This Open?Shauna Swerland tells Jonathan Sposato, on What Fuels You, that he is an open book, comfortable being vulnerable and owning who he is.
  5. What Was It Like to Be a Multicultural Couple in 1967Jonathan's parents were Chinese and Korean, and at the time, his parents were not allowed to get married; it was seen as a very shameful thing.
  6. What Was It Like for Jonathan to Meet a Birth Parent as an AdultHe wondered, "Will I like him?" or "Will I see him as a complete drag?" and considered many other questions.
  7. Does Jonathan Sposato Value EducationAbsolutely. With a Chinese mom and Italian father who adopted him when he was young, there was no escaping it.
  8. How Did Jonathan Sposato Learn to Parent With No Father?On What Fuels You, Jonathan Sposato says he was born in London to a single Chinese mother and did not meet his own father until about eighteen months before…
  9. How Did Jonathan Sposato Go From Bullied to Admired?Jonathan figured out that other kids were just insecure, and if he could get good at various activities, like sports and music, and could become a popular…
  10. Where Did Jonathan Sposato Go to CollegeJonathan looked all over for schools. He applied to Harvard, Stanford, and many other Ivy League schools and was rejected.
  11. What Did Jonathan Pursue at WhitmanRelationally, he had friends from all over and found it very fulfilling.
  12. How Did Jonathan's Parents' Divorce Influence HimDuring his senior year, his parents divorced.
  13. What Motivated Jonathan Sposato to Start a Company After GraduationHe wanted to get a high ROI on his efforts.
  14. Where Did Jonathan Sposato Meet His Wife, Heather?On What Fuels You, Shauna Swerland asks Jonathan Sposato whether Microsoft is where he met his wife, Heather. He says yes.
  15. How Does Jonathan Sposato Describe Microsoft While He Worked There?Jonathan Sposato tells What Fuels You that he joined Microsoft in Redmond at the end of 1992 and stayed until 2004, about twelve years.
  16. What Kind of People Does Jonathan Sposato Look for?He likes renaissance people who like to color outside the lines.
  17. Why Did Jonathan Start Funding Only Female Founders?Only 2.7% of venture capital funding is allocated to female-founded businesses. He believes this must be remedied.
  18. What Advice Would Jonathan Sposato Give to His Younger SelfRelax. It's all ok.

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