John Thornton Co-Founder and Partner Emeritus
John brought nearly three decades of software investing experience to his role as co-founder at Elsewhere Partners. Before his death in 2025, he played a key role in launching the firm and left a lasting impact on its culture and strategy. He also served as a general partner at Austin Ventures, where he led or co-led technology investing since the late 90s and served as managing partner 2005-2008. Previously, John was with McKinsey & Co., where he served clients in the U.S. and Europe.
John received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and his BA from Trinity University, where he graduated first in his class. He previously served on the Boards of Directors for Ballet Austin, Austin Museum of Art (now Contemporary Austin), and the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas. He was a founding board member of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas and a former trustee of Trinity University.
John had many passions outside of investing and pursued them with vigor, above all was non-profit journalism. In 2008 he founded the Texas Tribune, which won a Peabody Award in 2017 and became the gold standard in non-profit news. In 2018 John co-founded the American Journalism Project, which has raised more than $225 million to fund local news and now supports a portfolio of 50 nonprofit newsrooms in 36 states.
