Leading Companies Online Magazine Archives
The Johnny Appleseed of Entrepreneurship
By Ray Smilor, Beyster Institute Executive Director
He would tell entrepreneurs, “Bite off more than you can chew, and then chew it!” In other words, if you take a chance on doing more than you think you can, you’ll accomplish more than you could have imagined. And he was right.
Jeff Timmons was called the “Johnny Appleseed of Entrepreneurship,” and deservedly so. He was a pioneer in the field, promoting entrepreneurship courses, programs, centers, internships, business plan competitions, award ceremonies, halls of fame, media stories, books, articles… anything to raise awareness of the importance of entrepreneurship, not only because it was key to economic development, but especially because it reflected human achievement.
Jeff died unexpectedly April 9 of a heart attack after meeting with students at Babson College, where he was a distinguished professor of entrepreneurship, a renowned scholar in the field, and an inveterate optimist advocating for innovation, creativity and the pursuit of opportunity… planting seeds of possibility wherever he went.
Jeff was a gifted teacher who inspired all who came under his influence, including me. He believed that with entrepreneurs all things can be accomplished, even the impossible, which just takes a little longer. And he had the research, experience and stories to back up his claim.
His own list of accomplishments is impressive: the first to use the word “entrepreneurial” in the title of a dissertation at Harvard, the first to write a major textbook on entrepreneurship, the first to create a program to train faculty in how to teach entrepreneurship, the first to design a training program to develop young people to be venture capitalists. He was a key thought leader in expanding the research base of entrepreneurship, in building the academic discipline of the entrepreneurial field, and in launching new institutions, such as the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where I had the good fortune to work with him over a number of years.
As an entrepreneur himself, he was involved in several companies, was an active investor, and served as a director and advisor to countless start-up and growth companies.
But Jeff Timmons was even more than all of this.
He was a joy to be around. He was an outdoorsman, and I always thought of him as something of a country squire. When he had the time, he retreated to his homes in New Hampshire and South Carolina to hunt and fish. He took me pheasant hunting once in the New Hampshire fields where I blasted away all morning and never hit a bird. He downed each one he shot at, and still made me feel that I had real potential as a marksman! He believed in potential.
He was an avid fly fisherman and saw endless analogies between casting for trout and launching a company. After a while, I came to recognize that catching the big one is pretty much like landing an IPO.
For Jeff, no idea was too big not to try, and no entrepreneur was too small not to help. As a result, he left a remarkable legacy. The entrepreneurship seeds that he planted—in universities, foundations, companies and the hearts of those he taught—will continue to bloom. He’ll be remembered with affection and appreciation by all those who were touched by his passion, energy and good spirit.
And I’ll remember to bite off more than I can chew…and then chew it!
©2008 The Beyster Institute and its authors and their entities. All rights reserved.
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