In 1994, Fisher cofounded and was chief executive officer of AutoReach,[15] now an
AutoNation company.[15][16] Former Oracle President and recent Hewlett Packard chairman Ray Lane was Fisher's first angel investor and also invested in two of Fisher's later start ups.[17] In 1998, Fisher was the co-founder and CEO of the business software company, NetClerk, Inc., now part of Roper Technologies.[18] The company created the online
construction permit.[19][20] In 2004, Fisher cofounded and was chief executive officer of Bharosa, which was acquired by
Oracle Corporation in 2007.[21]
CrowdOptic
Fisher co-founded
CrowdOptic in 2011 with Jeff Broderick, Doug Van Blaricom and Alex Malinovsky.[22] In April 2011, Fisher became the CEO of CrowdOptic.[23][24][25] The company offers augmented reality technology for use in incident response, medicine and sports.[26] Fisher marketed CrowdOptic in professional sports.[27]Wired magazine's
Bruce Sterling wrote about CrowdOptic "I've never read a work of fiction or nonfiction that ever implied that such a technology might be possible.[28] In 2016 Julie Bort wrote for Business Insider that CrowdOptic's technology was "so cool, we've never seen anything like it."[12] In 2017 a Silicon Review cover story featured Fisher and CrowdOptic's partnership with
Hewlett Packard Enterprise.[29]
In 2021, Fisher founded ViciNFT as a software company that builds software for communities and enterprises.[8]
Academic career
Fisher is an adjunct professor at the
University of San Francisco.[30] Fisher has written a book, Strategic Entrepreneurism: Shattering the Start-Up Entrepreneurial Myths, which was published in 2008 by SelectBooks.[31]
Fisher's 2018 commencement speech at the University of San Francisco was viewed more than ten million times. Drawing on this, his second book, I Took the Only Path to See You, was published in 2021 by
Wiley Publishers.[32][33] The publisher also issued a
non-fungible token (NFT) to promote the book.[34]
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year, Emerging Category (2007)[36]
Patents
Named on over 100 patents globally,[37] Fisher was a co-patentee in a contextual authentication patent awarded to Bharosa, which later received five issued patents and has twelve patents pending.[38] Fisher was also a co-patentee in the technology behind Glass at Work partner CrowdOptic, which triangulates two or more electronic devices focused in the same direction at the same time.[38][39][40]
Prediction of 2010 US unemployment peak
Fisher has made predictions about the U.S. economy, particularly
unemployment rates.[41][42] Fisher has commented that the drop in
housing starts is a good indicator of the direction the
unemployment rate is headed. He writes: "Historically, when new U.S. housing starts have plunged, unemployment has surged in the following year", concluding that he believes a linear correlation exists between national housing starts and national unemployment in times of severe recession.[41] In April 2008 at
Marquette University, he predicted U.S. unemployment would rise to 9% by April 2009.[42][43]
On Nov. 8, 2008, Fisher stated on
National Public Radio that higher unemployment wouldn't increase foreclosures because there weren't many homeowners left who couldn't pay their mortgages, even without a job—although he thought they might not buy as many vehicles and other large purchases.[44]
In August 2009 at the
Commonwealth Club of California, Fisher predicted U.S. unemployment would peak at not more than 10.4% before declining to 8.0% by end of 2010.[45][46] Fisher stated the consumer's home may be the center of the U.S. and international economies, challenging The World Is Flat thesis by
Thomas L. Friedman.[47] Fisher has been an outspoken critic of the
Treasury's bailout plans, saying "there are various techniques of restructuring that are familiar in the business world, none of which are being used by the government."[30] However, Fisher wrote that "entrepreneurship should not be used to bludgeon the safety net."[48]
Personal life and philanthropy
Fisher married Darla Kincheloe Fisher, owner of Koze clothing boutiques, in 2002, and their daughter was born in 2010.[49] Jon's daughter become the youngest scuba magician at age 12 and earned a Guinness World Record in the category at age 13.[50][51] The record was judged and awarded by Guinness World Records at the San Francisco Aquarium By The Bay, which culminated in raising $500,000 toward charitable donations.[52]