Dear Carnegie Mellon Entrepreneurial Community,

In late December 2012 we lost a legend. Don Jones - friend, mentor, and benefactor - passed away peacefully at home with his family.

So many of us were touched in meaningful ways by Don. He was an irrepressible optimist and tireless promoter of innovation and entrepreneurship.

I was blessed to have Don as my personal mentor and to have started a company with him – IndustryNet. I always said my time working with Don was be “like getting a PhD in Entrepreneurship.” Not a day goes by when I don’t quote Don – my favorites include:

“Nothing happens until there is a sale …”

“To really understand your customer, you have to walk a mile in their moccasins.”

“If there are two people in the room and they agree on everything, then there is one too many people in the room!”

And Don’s concept of  “The Goodness Factor” is a fantastic teaching tool to help aspiring entrepreneurs understand that they need compelling value propositions as new entrants to a market.

We will all miss Don. He will live on in spirit and in memory with us at the Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship.  

Sincerely,

Dave Mawhinney
Executive Director, Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship

Read the obituary from the Tepper School of Business

Read a classified obituary from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Read a news obituary from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Read a news story from the Pittsburgh Business Times