Adjunct Faculty

Jonathan Aberman Adjunct Faculty M.S., London School of Economics Phone: (703) 635-2655 E-mail: jaberman@rhsmith.umd.edu

Jonathan Aberman is the founder of and Managing Director of Amplifier.  Amplifier is composed by Amplifier Ventures, a group of early stage venture capital funds, and Amplifier Network an online social community that provides educational content, relevant news and business advice to a growing community of entrepreneurs and selected investors and service providers in the Mid-Atlantic market.  Amplifier has been operating since late 2005.  Amplifier Ventures’ investment focus is emerging software.  Amplifier Ventures seeks to be the first institutional investor in its portfolio companies, and has led the majority of its investments. Amplifier’s investment team includes experienced serial entrepreneurs with wide ranging social and business experiences.

Prior to forming Amplifier, Mr. Aberman was a venture capital attorney who, as Partner in three top-tier law firms, mentored the formation and growth of over 60 promising emerging technology companies and represented over 15 venture capital funds in transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $1 billion.  Prior to his time as a venture capital lawyer, Mr. Aberman was mergers & acquisition attorney in New York and an investment banker and arbitrage trader in London, England.

Mr. Aberman serves on boards and committees of the Virginia Biotechnology Association, the Governors Commission on Biotechnology for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Northern Virginia Technology Council, the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association and George Mason Intellectual Properties. He is an advisor to the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (“MTECH”); the Technology Advancement Program at the University of Maryland, College Park; the Hinman CEO Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Maryland, College Park; the Mason Enterprise Center at George Mason University; and the Entrepreneurship Program at the George Washington University.  He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, the University of Maryland, and the Kogod School of Business, American University, where he teaches courses on Venture Capital and other topics.  He is a frequent writer on venture capital topics for regional and national publications.

Mr. Aberman was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The George Washington University.  He holds a Masters in International Economics with Distinction from The London School of Economics. Mr. Aberman is the recipient of Bachelors and Masters of Law degrees from both Cambridge University and New York University School of Law.