Watson, Jim
Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Presidio Partners
Jim Watson graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree and served five years as a Navy pilot. He then joined the national sales organization at IBM and was an annual member of the IBM President’s Club. In his first entrepreneurial effort as a member of the executive team, Jim lead a turnaround of a public logistics company. He successfully brought the company out of bankruptcy and executed a sale in less than a year with very favorable results for the creditors and shareholders. He calls that experience his “real life MBA”.
Jim then formed his own company, Skyway Systems, a high technology services company, where he was the founder and President for seventeen years. Skyway quickly found itself on the Inc. Magazine list of fastest growing U.S. companies. Inc. Magazine also named Jim as one of the Entrepreneurs of the Year. Skyway Systems was acquired by Union Pacific Corporation in 1995.
Starting in 1996, Jim became an investor in technology startups in Silicon Valley. There he mentored CEOs and focused his efforts on being a Director of several companies. In 2001, he joined CMEA Capital as a General Partner of the $1B investment firm located in San Francisco.
Jim is now CEO and Managing Director of Presidio Partners and has been involved in investments in over 60 companies. He has worked with institutional investors such as large pension funds, foundations, endowments and family offices to form a relationship of trust and transparency in managing their money.