This Serial Entrepreneur Raised $70 Million To Pioneer Bluetooth Smart Locks And Is Now Building His Next Intelligent Home Venture

Jason Johnson’s entrepreneurial journey is the kind that lives at the intersection of tech history and personal resilience. He witnessed Apple transforming the computing world in the early ’90s and stared down the bursting dot-com bubble.

Eventually, Jason built August Home into one of the most iconic consumer IoT brands of its era in a riveting story of cycles, reinvention, and timing. This blog post traces his journey, from his early business dreams in Portland to his record-setting exit with August.

Founders can learn essential lessons from the highs and lows of Jason’s experiences. He talks about building, scaling, and exiting, as well as navigating the different cycles of company building. Jason’s latest venture is Doma Home, which is transforming smart homes into infrastructure-first living spaces.

Listen to the full podcast episode and review the transcript here.

Oregon Roots and Big Tech Aspirations

Jason grew up in Portland, Oregon, in what he calls a “granola” environment with hippie parents, community-oriented living, and a love for nature. But what truly caught his imagination was watching his father travel to Japan for business, as he worked for a Japanese trading company.

Those trips planted the seed: someday, Jason himself, wanted to be part of the global tech world. When Jason graduated from Pepperdine with a business degree, he had two dream employers: Apple or Sony, the titans of consumer electronics in the early ’90s.

Alternatively, Jason wanted to work for one of the big Japanese electronics companies. Sony was making all kinds of awesome gadgets and marketing them out of a showroom in Tokyo that even today, rivals the best showrooms anywhere.

Jason visited Sony several times, but Apple won out. In 1993, before the first Apple retail stores ever existed, he joined the company to help oversee its distribution business. It was his first taste of working at the center of a technology giant.

First Startup Whirlwind: InterQuest and the Dot-Com Bust

After Apple, Jason joined his first venture capital-backed startup, Tut Systems, which made internet routers and modems for homes. There, he came up with the idea for InterQuest, a company delivering broadband DSL service to apartment buildings across 17 states.

This was a bold move in the early days of consumer internet. InterQuest raised capital from friends and mentors, scaled quickly, and merged with two other startups to form Darwin Networks. One of the startups was working with hotels, while the other provided services to office buildings.

Ultimately, the company came to be known as BLEC–a building, local exchange carrier. Backed by Credit Suisse and Lehman Brothers, Darwin was on track to become one of the biggest IPOs of 2000 with a peak valuation.

Jason looks back at the time when they were getting ready for the roadshow, having booked their flights. They had also hired a highly qualified CEO and raised a tremendous amount of capital. Then came April 2000. The IPO window slammed shut as the dot-com bubble burst.

Darwin went from a future unicorn to one of the most publicized casualties of the crash. “I went from being potentially this huge successful entrepreneur to needing to find a job,” Jason recalls. “But I was still young. I saw it as a chance to retool.”

Rebuilding Confidence: Dolby Labs Years

Jason took mentor Craig Johnson’s (a famous lawyer in Silicon Valley) advice and returned to a big company, Dolby Laboratories. Over 12 years, he rose through the ranks, became a top executive, and was even in the pipeline for CEO training.

As Jason reveals, the company had gone public and was identifying different people to groom as a potential future CEO. He was sent to participate in Harvard and Stanford executive programs and also received coaching sessions. He also received RSUs and a big salary.

In short, it was everything that looked like “success” on paper. But it didn’t feel like building. One day, after proposing an acquisition strategy, his boss told him, “Jason, you’re very ambitious. I love your vision and energy. Just don’t try so hard. Go back to your office and read the Wall Street Journal.”

The message was that the company was very successful and didn’t need to do acquisitions. They could sit back and enjoy the large offices. That moment changed everything. Jason went home, told his wife, and soon after quit his job.

Founders Den: Where Ideas Ignite

Together with friends Jonathan Abrams (founder of Friendster), Zachary Bogue (attorney), and Michael Levitt (entrepreneur), Jason rented a shared office space in San Francisco.

A coffee with Tim Chang (venture capitalist at Northwest Ventures) turned that idea into Founders Den, an invite-only coworking hub for pedigreed founders and Y Combinator alumni. Tim offered them capital to lease a bigger space and get started.

Being surrounded by builders again re-ignited Jason’s entrepreneurial fire. He’d always dreamed of creating something in consumer electronics. Now he had the network, the background, the inspiration, and the timing. That spark became August Home.

One of the earliest and most notable desk-renters? Gavin Newsom, then lieutenant governor of California. At the time, he wanted to be in San Francisco and was open to working at a 44-inch desk. Gavin spent the next three-and-a-half years using that desk as his day-to-day office.

Jason looks back at this association fondly as he learned a great deal about how to run a giant economy. He also reveals how Founders Den was probably the most secure co-working slash incubator space in San Francisco.

Birth of August Home: A Lock That Redefined Access

The idea for August came from a water cooler conversation at Founders Den. There, they were doing demo days and bringing in venture capitalists to interact with entrepreneurs. The energy and excitement of people building and creating was palpable, and spurred ideas.

While working at Dolby, Jason had learned about licensing various technologies, including audio, video, and a broad range of technology standards. Now, he created the NFC licensing consortium.

NFC technology is the technology that phones use for authentication and making payments. Jason had the idea of using NFC for authentication for access for smart door locks. That’s when Kanishk, a fellow founder, suggested something better—Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), the non-pairing version.

“That conversation made August Lock possible. It let us issue digital keys remotely—like for Airbnbs and guest access—without pairing.”

With industrial design by Yves Béhar, August launched its smart lock at $249. Yves had designed the locks using top-notch, no-expense-spared materials and craftsmanship.

Although inexpensive Bluetooth locks are now widely available, at the time, August Locks was a premium device, much like Apple. It landed in every Apple Store in North America, as well as in Best Buy, Home Depot, and Target.

August became the #1 smart lock in the U.S., pioneering a product category before it was mainstream. Next, Jason and his team experimented with video doorbells, though the idea did not have the same volume of sales.

Raising Funding and Executing a Strategic Exit: Turning Competitors into Buyers

Jason reveals how they raised around $70M for the company. August hit market saturation in North America. The way the locks were designed–with a robot installed inside doors–they were compatible only with locks in North America. Jason was unsure about how much of a market share they’d have.

Rather than just pushing more devices, Jason built relationships with competitors like Schlage, Yale, and Kwikset by offering them August’s access control software stack for free.

“They asked, ‘Why give us your crown jewels?’” Jason explains that August wanted to own the access control layer. He wanted to partner with vacation rentals, in-home delivery services, and other businesses using the access control technology.

That strategy worked. Multiple companies bid against each other to acquire August. Jason personally ran the M&A process with Bharat Hassan, his CFO (a brilliant former investment banker), driving up competitive offers.

Ultimately, August was acquired by Assa Abloi (the Swedish parent company of Yale), in what became the largest smart lock acquisition to date.

From Startup to Public Service

Jason has an interesting story about his transition to becoming a commissioner. When Newsom became governor, he visited Founders Den, where Jason met with him in one of the conference rooms. As they chatted, Gavin commented on having to make hundreds of appointments.

Jason casually said, “I’d be open to serving the state.” That moment led to his appointment to the Little Hoover Commission, giving him a new way to contribute to public policy while staying close to innovation.

Doma: The Next Chapter

After a successful earn-out at Yale, Jason took time off–building a house in Napa, cycling, playing pickleball, and reflecting on the smart home’s next frontier. He also helped expand the August platform. It now powers locks worldwide and is used by hundreds of millions of people.

Jason’s newest venture, Doma, is rethinking how smart homes work. He is learning from what succeeded and what didn’t in the August years, charting a bold new path in the smart home space.

Jason has already raised a seed round led by Uncork Capital and Modern Ventures; the company is gearing up for a Series A.

Storytelling is everything that Jason Johnson was able to master. The key is capturing the essence of what you are doing in 15 to 20 slides. For a winning deck, take a look at the pitch deck template created by Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley legend (see it here https://startupfundraising.com/pitch-guide), where the most critical slides are highlighted.

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What sets Doma apart isn’t just another layer of connectivity; it’s a complete rethinking of what a truly intelligent home should be.

Rather than simply connecting devices to an app, Doma is designed to make them work together seamlessly and intelligently. Johnson believes most smart homes today aren’t truly “smart” at all.

“We’re adding intelligence, not just connectivity,” he explains. “The goal is to have these devices communicate with each other and respond to human needs in real time.”

Addressing the Industry’s Key Failure Points

One of Doma’s core principles addresses a common failure point in the industry: power. Traditional smart devices rely on batteries or wall plugs, both of which are prone to failure. Batteries die, and devices can be unplugged, making them unreliable

Doma’s vision eliminates that risk entirely by integrating deeply into the home’s infrastructure, embedding intelligence into existing systems and appliances rather than adding more fragile, standalone gadgets.

Jason envisions a future where homes resemble the Jetsons-like experience people have imagined for decades–responsive, intuitive, and reliable. Devices should work without the need to open apps, press buttons and speak, or switch, slide, and press control switches.

A home that monitors health, ensures safety, solves problems quietly in the background, and operates without the need to constantly create schedules, automations, and scenes manually. “People don’t want to manage automations,” he notes. “They just want it to work.”

Lessons Learnt Through the Entrepreneurship Journey

Reflecting on his own journey as a founder, Johnson shared what he would tell his younger self before launching a company. Known for his intense focus and disciplined leadership style, he admits he would have encouraged himself to breathe more and embrace imperfection.

“You don’t have to get everything right,” Jason says. “You can let your team make mistakes. If the product is good, people will buy and appreciate it. If it’s not, intensity won’t fix it.” He also emphasizes the importance of adaptability.

For Jason, pivoting is about balance, not panic. He likens building a startup to a three-legged stool made up of team, product, and distribution. To stand firm, each leg must be solid.

“You don’t need to over-optimize one leg at the expense of the others,” he explains. “Make sure all three are stable. That’s how you survive and grow.”

Jason also learned how to make tough decisions early on during his first DSL company, which tried to simultaneously tackle apartment buildings, office buildings, and hotels. He had hired a professional to help him with the business aspect because they were bringing broadband using DSL modems.

The seasoned advisor told Jason to focus, and he was right. By narrowing in on one market, Jason was able to build stronger relationships and a more resilient business. Today, with Doma, those lessons are being applied with precision.

Instead of chasing hype, Johnson is building for longevity, focusing on infrastructure over gadgets, intelligence over connectivity, and balance over intensity. It’s a playbook forged from decades of experience, and one that just might redefine what “smart home” truly means.

In Conclusion

Jason Johnson’s journey from Apple and the dot-com whiplash to August’s category-defining exit, and now to Doma’s “intelligent home,” demonstrates how great companies are built through timing, resilience, and relentless learning.

Jason’s playbook is complex and straightforward: balance team, product, and distribution; focus when it counts; and design for reliability, not gimmicks. If Doma delivers on that ethos, he may end up rewriting what “smart home” really means.

Listen to the full podcast episode to know more, including:

• Jason Johnson’s journey shows how resilience and timing can turn early setbacks into defining successes.
• Founders Den reignited his entrepreneurial spark, proving the power of surrounding yourself with builders.
• August Home pioneered smart locks by focusing on user experience and elegant design.
• Strategic partnerships and competitor relationships can be a powerful path to acquisition.
• His leadership philosophy evolved from intensity to embracing imperfection and team trust.
• Doma represents a shift from “smart” homes to truly intelligent, infrastructure-first living spaces.
• Balancing team, product, and distribution remains his core framework for building durable companies.

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Keep in mind that storytelling is everything in fundraising. In this regard, for a winning pitch deck to help you, take a look at the template created by Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley legend (see it here), which I recently covered. Thiel was the first angel investor in Facebook with a $500K check that turned into more than $1 billion in cash. 

Remember to unlock for free the pitch deck template that founders worldwide are using to raise millions below.

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