Simon Olson

DFJ FIR Capital

Partner

Biography

Simon earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Northwestern University School of Law.

Prior to joining FIR Capital Partners, Simon was a principal at Galt Capital, a St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands-based hedge fund where he worked with trading legends Ed Seykota and Curtis Faith.

Simon also worked as an associate in the start-up group of Fenwick & West, one of the premier high technology law firms in Palo Alto, California, and served as a consultant to one of the world's first synthetic biology companies, Chromatin, Inc. At FIR Capital, Simon played a critical role in the sale of portfolio company Akwan to Google, Inc, and led the firm's effort to partner with Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Simon is a former member of the board of directors of Computers to Help People, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of handicapped people through the use of technology, and was an advisor on the Stanford University-Reuters Foundation-Phillips NV-Voices in Your Hand project, a social enterprise for the digital inclusion of some of the world's poorest people.

Simon has written on a variety of topics including mash-ups, the social graph, synthetic biology, the effect of technology on social norms, and emerging markets venture capital.  His writing can be found on his blog, Venture Capital Thoughts and Reflections.

Simon has spoken on venture capital at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, and his quotes have been featured in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

Simon's current areas of interest include: Synthetic Biology; Cognitive Computing; Regenerative Medicine; Bioremediation, and Internet-related ventures.