John co-founded Allos in 2010, but he did some pretty cool stuff before that, too. He was also a lawyer.

John started his career as a corporate lawyer at Jones Day in Cleveland where he co-founded the Private Ventures Group after determining the firm needed a better way to serve the needs of entrepreneurs and venture capital and private equity firms. After several years of representing VCs and early-stage technology companies, he decided to pursue a career in venture capital.

Although he achieved success as an attorney, he knew that to succeed as a venture capitalist he would need operating experience. So he left Jones Day to join publicly-traded Quantum Health Resources, a provider of drugs and related therapies to patients with rare, chronic diseases, as SVP of business development and general counsel.

In 1997, after Quantum was sold to Olsten Health Services (where John continued on as SVP of business development), he was recruited to Blue Chip Venture Company in Cincinnati. During his 12 years as a partner with Blue Chip John led investments in over 25 companies, several of which achieved highly successful exits. 

John co-founded Allos Ventures in 2010 to focus on early-stage software and software-enabled service companies based in the Midwest.  Since then, Allos has invested in over 50 seed and early-stage companies and is now investing from its fourth fund. 

John has been involved in a variety of startup initiatives throughout the Midwest. He was a founding board member of the Michigan Venture Capital Association and was the founding board chairman of VentureOhio.  And he was a founding board member of Cincinnati’s OCEAN Accelerator. John also served as a board member and board chair of publicly-traded Meridian Bioscience until its successful sale for $1.5 billion in early 2023.  He currently serves as an entrepreneur in residence with Miami University’s entrepreneurship institute and as an adjunct professor for the Miami Redhawk Startup Launch Accelerator.

Education
•JD, Case Western Reserve University
•BA, Hillsdale College

LinkedIn

Business Book Worth Reading
The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey

Favorite Western
The Magnificent Seven (the original!)

Current Playlist
Crosby, Stills & Nash; Van Morrison; Steely Dan; Bill Evans

Quote to Live By
”As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.”

—Andrew Carnegie