Jason Rathje

In his current role at AFVentures, Jason is part of a team that implements novel initiatives to mature and transition “dual-use” technology ventures. Their approach is to build relationships between commercial solution-providers and Air Force problem-owners, and scale successful problem-solution matches. AFVentures is successful if their initiatives accelerate a product-market fit between the companies who are passionate about national security and Air Force users who need their revolutionary technologies. Prior to this, Jason spent three years researching the intersection of entrepreneurship, innovation, and national security in Stanford’s Management Science & Engineering Department, specializing in technology entrepreneurship strategies. Specifically, he studied the effect of government partnerships, both as an investor and customer, on basic research through commercialization. This research heavily influenced his involvement in AFVentures, as well as sparked new research projects on how to more intelligently expand the dual-use economy.