John Morris

Biography

After a 20+ year career in venture capital and early stage investing with earlier experience in public accounting, financial management and investment banking, John currently chairs a CEO advisory group for Vistage International. Members meet monthly as a peer group to collaborate on each other’s issues and opportunities. The Vistage mission is geared to developing better leaders who are making better decisions and getting better results.  

For the prior ten years, John was a partner with an expansion stage venture capital firm focused on emerging information technology companies. John is also Chairman Emeritus of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA), the largest angel investor organization in the country, and was co-founder and a past president of TCA Los Angeles. In this career, he has worked closely with a number of entrepreneurs who are trying to pursue their dreams of starting their own business. 

This role carries over to the academic community. John is a part time member of the faculty at UCLA Anderson School of Management. He serves as a faculty advisor to MBA teams for both the fully employed (FEMBA) and the executive MBA (EMBA) programs. 

During his career, John has served on the boards of both public and private companies and currently is a board member for three venture backed companies. John has been an active member of the business community in Los Angeles. He is a former director for Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA).  He was an economics major at UCLA and earned his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He is married and enjoys golf, scuba diving, adventure travel and digital photography.

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Interests

Venture Capital, Accounting, Entrepreneurial Operations, Entrepreneurship and Venture Initiation, Equity Valuation, Executive Team Building, Financial Statement Analysis, Governance, Information Systems and Technology, Internet Software Development, Investment Banking, Leadership Effectiveness, Leadership Effectiveness Coaching, Managing Growth, Mergers and Acquisitions, Performance Management