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This blog features parts of an influential and insightful article featured outside of the PWI Co-Lab™ by Trevor Jensen on December 11, 2009, published by TRIBUNE REPORTER.
We have republished this content in respect of the author’s vision, message and research.
Opening Insights
Edgar F. ‘Ned’ Heizer Jr. was a seminal figure in the history of the venture capital industry, whose ability to see beyond the horizon led to successful investments in
fledgling companies in fields from computers to pancakes.
Mr. Heizer, 80, died of complications from Parkinson’s disease Thursday, Dec. 3, at the Presbyterian Homes in Lake Forest, said his wife of 57 years, Molly.
Mr. Heizer embarked on a directed course of business study after graduating from New Trier High School, gaining a striking breadth of knowledge and experience by the time he was 30.
fledgling Informational Insights
At Northwestern University in Evanston, he majored in chemical engineering and business as an undergraduate. He then added a law degree from Yale University.
He worked for two years at Arthur Andersen, becoming a certified public accountant in the process, then two years at Kidder Peabody & Co., immersing himself in investment banking.
Two years at Booz Allen Hamilton, a management consulting firm, set him up for his real life’s work as a venture capitalist. For the rest of his career, he scouted for companies with good ideas, provided money for growth and when necessary, lent a management hand.
“He was interested in people, in what they did and why they did it,” his wife said. “He didn’t want to be stuck in one spot.”
He started at Allstate, where for eight years he ran what was called the private placement department. The department grew, but Mr. Heizer didn’t want to be part of a vast investment apparatus, his wife said.
“He didn’t consider what he did just throwing some money out there and you’ll get some winners,” she said. “He didn’t want to manage these (start-up) companies, but he wanted to know what was going on all the time.”
In 1969, he started the Heizer Corp. with $81 million in capital from institutional investors, indicating the reputation he built at Allstate.
Among his biggest investment hits was Amdahl Corp., started by a computer whiz from IBM named Gene Amdahl. In its first several years, the company made no money. But after a management change, Amdahl went public in 1976 and eventually became a multi billion-dollar corporation, said George Needham, who as an investment banker with First Boston worked with Mr. Heizer on the deal. Through his years at Allstate and with his own company, he had a stake in successful companies including Federal Express (now FedEx), Chesapeake Energy Corp. and International House of Pancakes.
“He was good at being a visionary and seeing the future, and I think he was a good judge of people,” said Needham, now chairman and CEO of The Needham Group in New York. “He was one of the giants of the venture business.”
Mr. Heizer worked for several years to persuade Congress to pass a law making it easier for venture capital firms to go public. The law passed in 1980. The Heizer Corp. went public a year later, issuing 4 million shares at $17.50 a share, said his son, Edgar “Skip” III.
The Heizer Corp. was set up as a traditional “C corporation,” and taxes eventually proved too burdensome. The firm was liquidated in 1985, having through its existence provided a compounded annul rate of return of 24 percent, Needham said.
Mr. Heizer lived for much of the time in the years afterward in Bermuda.
A founding member and first president of the National Venture Capital Association, he also started the Heizer Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.
Mr. Heizer is also survived by two daughters, Linda Heizer Seaman and Molly Hunt Heizer; a sister, Ann Dewey; and four grandchildren. Services were held.
Ned was a Mentor of Dr. Richard Jorgensen. Ned selected Richard as one of his first mentees after starting Heizer Corp. Together they worked to build a business and Richard learned everything he could from Ned. The result was Richard’s enduring success and legacy within business, technology and venture Capital.
Possibilities for Consideration
Many people today are so wrapped up in self they fail to connect with, relate to and learn from great mentors, leaders and teachers. As a result the legacy of wisdom often dies along with them. If we are to survive and thrive together as members of the human race, we must turn the tide and the paradigm of selfishness. In doing so, we must learn to value great mentors, leaders and teachers who are still with us and who have passed to keep the legacy of wisdom alive.
Take a moment and examine…
- As you reviewed the material above, what stood out to you?
- What is the potential impact, economically and/or socially?
- What action is needed to stop or support this idea?
- You may want to consider whether you:
- want to be aware of,
- should become supportive of,
- would want to be active in this topic?
Add Your Insight
I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Being willing is not enough; we must do.
LEONARDO DA VINCI