San Diego Metropolitan - 40 Under 40

John Otterson, 37, frequently may be found conducting business while straddling a surfboard off the shores of La Jolla. This managing director of venture capital practice at Silicon Valley Bank tries to incorporate his love of the water into his business responsibilities.

Living just two blocks from the ocean in La Jolla, he says, makes it easy. Not only does he meet with entrepreneurs in the water, he puts together an afternoon of sailing as a monthly get-together.

“It’s all about connecting, meeting new people and communicating,” he says.

What may surprise people about this gregarious business development-oriented person is that he graduated second in his class at the University of Southern California while earning his MBA. He says most people who know him wouldn’t think him that studious.

Also surprising is the vastness of his involvement in community and business organizations. While going over the list, he could only guess that he gives up sleep to get everything accomplished.

He is on the board of the San Diego Venture Group; a co-founder and board member of the San Diego Telecom Council; on the San Diego Software and Internet Council; Angel Investment Forum Chair; a member and former Financial Forum and EMT chair. As vice president of finance for the UCSD Cancer Center Foundation, he also co-founded the center’s annual Luau and Longboard Invitational fund-raiser.

Otterson says, “It’s pretty cool” to be recognized as one of the 40 Under Forty. But, award aside, people remain the most important to him, with his family at the top of the list. Otterson and his wife, Gabriele, have a new baby, Isabella Anne Otterson. So he may be spending a little more time on dry land in the upcoming months, although perhaps finding himself in a new kind of “wet” situation.