About Jon
Jon Thompson’s career began post-college in Botswana, where he spent two years working for the Peace Corp as a game warden and outdoor educator. He then traded the wilds of Africa for the jungles of corporate America, spending the next 25 years as an entrepreneur and executive.
In 2000, Jon and his brother Brick Thompson founded the venture-backed technology startup, Vercuity, which analyzed data for enterprise companies to control costs. They then led a rollup of the niche, backed by One Equity Partners. Later, the duo worked as real estate developers before getting back to their roots in technology and data analytics with the founding of Blue Margin, Inc., in 2011.
As Chief Strategy Officer, Jon now plays the role of “puzzle master,” helping PE firms and mid-market companies better understand how to win the game of business by focusing on their most vital data indicators. “What’s truly gratifying,” Jon says, “is helping clients reach the epiphany that exposing the right data to the right people is the short path to transformational growth.” That’s the heart of Blue Margin, and Jon’s professional mission.
The Dashboard Effect
Jon and Brick are also co-authors of the book, The Dashboard Effect, which makes the case that in your data lies the key to building a thriving culture, and efficiently executing on your value-creation plan. The book also outlines best-practices for designing and integrating dashboards that get adopted, and that employees attach to the same way fans, players, and coaches attach to a scoreboard. The result is clarity and mastery for executives, engagement and accountability for employees.
Learn more about The Dashboard Effect here.
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Quick Takes with Jon Thompson
Q: What does Jon like best about Blue Margin?
A: Rather than filling orders, we literally obsess over understanding clients' strategies, and measurably improving their business outcomes.
Q: Best mistake Jon’s ever made?
A: Dropping out of graduate school to start a company.
Q: Best book Jon’s read in the past year?
A; Shift Into Freedom by Loch Kelly.
Q: Best advice Jon’s parents gave?
A: It’s all about your attitude.
Q: Two people Jon admires?
A: Satya Nadella and Michelle Obama. Because they both display seemingly super-human poise and fearlessness.
Q: Something on Jon’s “bucket list”?
A: Wing-foiling off the coast of Namibia.
