John is an entrepreneur and investor who has co-founded several companies and invested in a number of others. His career was shaped by a trip to the Soviet Union during his junior year in high school. He was studying Russian language at the time, and that 1983 trip inspired him to direct his entrepreneurial energy toward Russia after graduating from Harvard in 1988.
John Boynton
He was an early player in Russia (co-founding CompTek, Yandex, and InfiNet Wireless) before bringing his focus closer to home where he has co-founded, invested in, and advised early stage companies in numerous sectors including B2E/B2G, social networking, sports/media, healthcare services, and real estate.
“I am not just a financial investor: in many of the companies I am involved in I have played an active role in establishing robust governance systems and practices, which I have seen time and again make important contributions to creating sustainable value.”
He has been self-employed all but seven years of his career — those years were spent at Forrester Research and Mercer Management Consulting.
In addition to his investing activities, he devotes a great deal of time to non-profit work and philanthropy in his community and beyond.
“Many of my investment and non-profit activities are driven by a belief in the power of community. Although social media makes it possible for us to be constantly in touch, there is a deep need for connection that technology cannot satisfy. I expect to see accelerated adoption of business models that create opportunities for rich, authentic, human interaction in our daily lives.”