Venture Philanthropy w/ BJ Cassin

Many of you may have heard of the now famous Sand Hill Road - where the first VC firms planted their roots, and where nearly every top technology company received early funding coming - including Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook to name just a few.

Today, we speak with one of the original Silicon Valley venture capitalists: BJ Cassin.  But BJ’s story doesn’t end with the impact he had as a venture capitalist, it goes far beyond it. 

Prior to his investing career, BJ co-founded the technology company Xidex which went on to achieve Fortune 500 status in 1987 and helped revolutionize the microfilm and data storage industry.

And later in his career, BJ became passionate about increasing opportunities in the education system. Starting in 2000 with a $22 million dollar gift, the Cassin Educational Initiative Foundation was launched to help replicate two very innovative school models across the country - Cristo Rey and Nativity schools.  

He is now implementing his venture philanthropy model with the Drexel Fund that funds a range of innovative schools, networks, and educational entrepreneurs.

If there is a theme that has come to define BJ’s success, it is the ability to take an idea and scale it to more places to impact more people. He describes his greatest joy as

“Seeing people open a new school and recognizing there are a lot of entrepreneurs in the system. All they need is guidance, some capital, and an idea.”

BJ’s story is a great opportunity to reflect on how you can replicate the best ideas in your own life to scale the impact on those around you.

You can follow the podcast and host Chuck Swoboda on Twitter for further exploration and discussion on innovation.

The episode is also available wherever else you listen to podcasts. Enjoy!