Jason Mangone

Jason Mangone has taken a circuitous route to small business leadership. He began his career as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps from 2006-10, including deployments to Iraq and Haiti. After his military service, he was a Research Associate at the Council on Foreign Relations. After graduate school Jason expected to return to work in the national security sector, but ended up running the Aspen Institute’s Franklin Project, an initiative to make a year of national service a common expectation for every young American. He led the Franklin Project’s merger with two other nonprofits, resulting in the creation of the Service Year Alliance, where Jason was Chief Operating Officer. He then spent a year helping to build New York City’s Department of Veterans’ Services as a Senior Advisor to the agency’s Commissioner. In 2018, he co-authored the national best-selling book Leaders: Myth and Reality, which the Financial Times named a “Best Business Book of 2018.” His writing has also been published, among other outlets, in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Task & Purpose, and Philadelphia Inquirer. Most recently, he was the Chief Operating Office of Acme General Corp., a consulting firm focused on national security innovation. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey with his wife and three kids, who he is raising to be Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers fans because he believes that resilience builds character.