Venture Capitalist Joins Thomas University Faculty
Post Published On:Matthew Johnson is right at home and doing what he loves – teaching entrepreneurship.
The Thomasville native is a new professor in Thomas University’s Division of Business. He started this spring, and he is currently teaching financial management and marketing courses.
“I have always wanted to get more involved locally,” he said. “My passion is teaching entrepreneurship. Teaching others how to avoid the mistakes I have made, and also teach the next generation of investors how to do this.”
Johnson comes to TU with extensive experience. He is the founder of venture capital firm Johnson Venture Partners, and he was a professor at Clemson University, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
“My plan was always to have a dual career – to run my venture firm and teach classes,” he said. “I want to teach aspiring entrepreneurs how to develop ideas and start companies. How to find opportunities, how to create opportunities to start companies and, also, on the investor side, how to invest in those companies.”
Johnson said there is now an increasing number of individuals who want to start their own companies.
“The demand for entrepreneurial education has grown tremendously over the last decade,” he said. “Even students outside of business colleges want exposure to entrepreneurship. The best ideas come from everywhere. They come from the chemistry department, the engineering school. It doesn’t have to be business students who come up with these concepts of starting companies. There is a lot of demand for entrepreneurial education across campuses and you are just going to see that increase.”
Johnson said he wants to help students avoid making the same mistakes he did when he started out such as investing in things for the wrong reasons, not verifying market demand, not being compatible with certain entrepreneurs or investors, among other things.
“In this business, you fail more than you succeed, but when you do succeed, it tends to be in a big way,” he said. “It is a high-risk; high-reward activity to start a company or invest in early-stage companies. It is very rewarding when you find something that works. When you find a company that is doing well, the leadership is strong and capable, and you see it is growing really fast, it is an exciting ride to be on.”
Since launching his business, Johnson Venture Partners, in 2015, the firm has invested in more than 40 early-stage technology startups.
“I am really excited to get feedback from faculty, staff, and students on what areas of entrepreneurship, innovation, and venture investing that people are interested in here at TU and in Thomasville,” he said. “And what can I do to bring some of that to the local ecosystem and get them exposed to what they want to be exposed to.”
