n o s f l o W ta han
Jon
A profile by Sofia Biros
Shortly after I arrive at the
house, a black Chevy Suburban pulls into the driveway next to me. A redheaded woman, Nelly, emerges and waves to me. She goes around to the back of the car, unbuckling her daugh-
work | home
ter from her car seat, and invites me into their house. For the next 20 minutes, I play in the backyard with Nev, the couple’s bubbly 2 ½ year old. Then, Mr. Wolfosn arrives. As soon as Nev hears the door open, she
runs straight to her dad. Jonathan Wolfson, CEO by day but dad by night, instantly switches into dad mode. He drops his briefcase and immediately picks her up. However, within minutes, Nev has a melt1
down on the kitchen floor, upset that she isn’t allowed to eat exclusively apples for dinner. Wolfson puts down Indy, their 8 month old daughter, and crouches down to Nev’s height. Talking in a level tone, Wolfson calms Nev down.
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s the father to two young girls, Nev and Indy, Wolfson finds that essentially, his business and family worlds collide; running a business is much like raising a family. Communication, interpersonal skills and level-headed thinking are important traits for anyone in business; however, they are even more important for a father. These are some of the most constant parts in Wolfson’s world, whether it’s at home or at work. “There’s an element,” Wolfson says, “which isn’t rocket science, but it’s about communicating and risking rejection.” Solazyme will continue to grow and innovate, and his daughters will get older, but communication will be a common thread throughout all the processes in his life.
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olfson is the Chief Executive Officer of Solazyme, a biotech company based out of the Bay Area. When Wolfson grad2
uated from New York University in 2000 with a joint degree in law and business, he already had job offers from some of the best consulting firms in the country. Accepting an offer, but with a year free before he was required to be at work, Wolfson decided to start his own company. This company, albeit unsuccessful, led Wolfson to lose his opportunity at the consulting firm. With a quarter of a million dollars in student loans, he began navigating his path through various businesses. Later, Wolfson met his wife, Nelly, who teaches composition at San Francisco State University. Their two young daughters influenced the way Wolfson now views the business world.
break into the industry before moving on to producing fuel. (Fehrenbacher) Biofuels are much like gasoline and diesel, but rather than being made from decomposed plants (what fossil fuels are comprised of), they are made from
the upper left hand side.
As
Wolfson gives me a 20 minute run down on all his major life and business ideals, I can’t help but to feel overwhelmed. Wolfson thinks big: he works with the best in the industry and won’t settle for anything less. He seeks out big names in the business and brings them on board as consultants. When he first brought in consultants, others saw that as a failure. “People thought I was just uncomfortable, having these people coming in and doing my job for me. They were completely wrong. They thought
“There’s an element, which isn’t rocket science, but it’s about communicating and risking rejection.” -Wolfson
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n 2003, he co-founded Solazyme in South San Francisco. Solazyme is a biotechnology company that creates “new, sustainable, high-performance products” from microalgae and renewable oils. As one of the first biofuel startups to focus on food and pharmacy products, Solazyme was able to
plants grown today. They are made through chemical reactions and manipulations of the algae molecules. (Cardwell) In 2013, Solazyme created the brand name Algenist, selling anti-aging cream made from algae-derived oils. Wolfson sits comfortably in a large, L-shaped office in South San Francisco. Photos on his walls show him in suits and ties, often posed with famous people, including Bill Clinton. Now, he wears blue it was my jeans and a black cot- insecurity that ton polo with the Sola- brought these zyme logo embroidered in
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people in, but that’s the exact wrong read. I was comfortable enough in my own skin to know that bringing these people in could bring new things to the table,” Wolfson says. After a quick stint on the importance of insecurities, Wolfson moved on to tell the story of his first company.
After this disaster, Wolfson’s friends and family were shocked when he announced that he was starting yet another company. This time, however, he had a new plan. He calls it “the concentric circles theory.”
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olfson explains, “When you start something, olfson started a you’re the only one in the business before founding middle and your job is to Solazyme, but unlike his cur- bring people along with your
lash forward: Wolfson enters the family home, the house alarm pinging when the door opens. Nev hears the sound and instantly knows her father is home. From the moment he walks into his house in the
rent company, the first was far less successful. Wolfson took his advancement of $15,000 from the consulting firm that had offered him a job and used it to start this company. When the web company failed, Wolfson owed his advancement back to the consulting company plus owed more to investors.
evening, Wolfson switches automatically and seamlessly into dad mode. Within the first 15 minutes of arriving home, Wolfson calms Nev, makes Indy laugh and holds a full conversation with both his wife and me. With everything that has to get done, Wolfson has had to learn how to become more productive.
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you convince your employees…and so on.” Wolfson’s new game plan worked; the company now has over 250 employees. (Solazyme)
vision and create ever larger circle. Then it was me and Harrison [co-founder] and a dog. Then we convinced a lawyer to represent us-- by making a bet that he would get paid if we made money. So that’s the first concentric circle. Then we raised our first money, and we had to convince those investors. Then
“Having kids has taught me how to be more efficient, because I have to get the same amount of work done but I want to make sure I’m home,” Wolfson says. “Unfortunately, travel is still travel, and when you travel, you’re gone. But when I’m here, I want to make sure I get home for the evening. In order for that to work, you have to be more efficient during the day.” In some ways, raising a fam-
ily is very similar to running a business. You have to work with all different types of people, and sometimes you have to compromise with difficult people. Wolfson says, “You have to play for the long run. The kid needs unconditional love...You do it in a family, you do it in a workplace.”
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olfson often speaks about knowing about connecting with others, and knowing what people care about. “You have to understand what motivates people and what they care about,” he says. “You can’t lead people if you don’t care about what they care about.” Caring about what other people care about is one of the key components to running a successful business-- or a successful family.
Much
of what Wolfson does is planning for the future. “Things take a long time. And things that don’t get a positive response at first, probably will get a good response later,” he says. “There have been so many times that I’ve proposed something to someone and it’s been
dismissed or I’ve been given a moderately hostile response. But a day, a month, or a year later, they come back and go, ‘You know that thing you mentioned?’”
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egardless of the outcome of a project, Wolfson always perseveres, learning for the next time. He acknowledges that not everything will work out, but pushing on is the key to success,
whether that be at work or at home. “One of the biggest attributes to success is tenacity. You gotta keep going, and you have to be willing to tune people out who are negative,” Wolfson says. “There is an art here, and the art is learning the difference between what really shouldn’t be tried and what really is possible.” 5