John Douglas Steuart has had a long and storied career with many notable highlights. As an industry leader and venture capitalist, he has worked hard to help smaller companies get the chance they need to achieve higher success. His unique career has often focused on medical advances but has also ventured far and wide in ways that may inspire many. He recently looked back on his career to showcase his proudest moments.

John Steuart Proudly Looks Back

When discussing his business success, John Steuart emphasizes the fact that he came into business with no ties or wealth. He always points this out because he believes it is crucial for young venture capitalists to understand that they, too, can work their way to success. He argues that anybody with the right mindset and intelligence can achieve what he has done if he can do it.

Right after college, Steuart started his first venture, a unique student-centered business that focused on his biggest love (technology) with affordable housing units. His success here helped him create further strategies that eventually expanded into healthcare. Over and over again, he has emphasized that “strategy is key,” meaning that it is crucial to plan and know precisely what you want to do first.

His Biggest Successes

When examining his career, John Steuart could pinpoint a few of his most significant and proudest moments. For instance, he was particularly proud of helping new startups find capital to grow and become more successful. He believes that these smaller companies are the backbone of the nation and that it is vital to support them as much as possible to give them a chance to improve.

Steuart also pointed to his services with Prolog Ventures in St. Louis because this company eventually led to his leadership in merging Cybergold and Mypoints. After merging these two businesses, he sold their programs to UAL for multi-million-dollar deals, which helped him funnel much of his money into future venture capital programs. In this way, he has continually helped new companies grow. Even the most prominent companies, he says, started out as startups that needed help from venture capitalists.

Examining His Success in More Detail

When discussing his continual success, John Douglas Steuart emphasizes that “nothing is constant” in his field. What is big one day may collapse the next and leave investors in shambles. However, he believes that passion and consistency are critical for success. Knowing when to get out there and try again is crucial because not every investment will work out perfectly, and tenacity is key to success.

He also believes that entrepreneurship and venture capitalism have a strong future as long as investment specialists continue to follow their instincts. The claim that the “venture model is broken” is, he believes, an overstatement. Changes can be made to improve it, but he firmly believes that spreading capital and helping smaller companies succeed satisfies everyone in the market.