John Rafuse
John Rafuse
is a unique hybrid of a high-tech visionary and successful businessman. He
has advanced knowledge surrounding the human interface into technology and
has an extensive track record of solving complex problems, monetizing
solutions, and building businesses.
As a businessman, John envisions, sells, and produces high-tech commercial
products, services, and solutions on behalf of the Fortune 500, all levels
of government, and the world’s top brands. His commercial product
portfolio has been used by over 100 million people, and he has personally
sold over $20 million in high-tech consulting. A pioneer in visualization,
the first pre-Y2K company he founded was a virtual reality (VR) company
that provided immersion sessions with head-mounted displays (HMDs). John
has since worked in executive-level positions, including the role of a
publicly reporting CEO. Now virtually based, he solves problems and
monetizes solutions for complex endeavors, including his current work to
provide business development for the world’s most famous hacker, Kevin
Mitnick, to monetize, while solving, rapidly growing global cyber threats.
John provided the business development, product vision, solution, and/or
assisted with resources for:
Example Private Sector Products: America Online – Personal
Computer 2.0,
America Online – AIM Toolbar, Cisco – Executive Management
Dashboard,
Compuserve – Internet Explorer Setup Toolkit, eBay (DataUnison) –
Market
Data Program, Hewlett Packard – Browser Booster, iPhone –
Funny 500
Series, Microsoft – Windows Connection Wizard, Microsoft –
Winter Fun
Pack, Netscape – Netscape Browser 8.x, Netscape – Pointcast
2.0, ShareThis
– ShareThis.com Toolbars, and the Windows User Group Network –
101
Greatest Applications.
Example Public Sector Solutions: 2010 Olympics Secretariat –
Community
Chairs Extranet, Attorney General – Enterprise Data Warehouse,
Education
(Advanced) – Foundations Skills Assessment Reporting, Education
(Commission) – Comprehensive Web Services, Elections – Electoral
Information System, Forests (Protection) – Dispatch
Application, Forests
(Research) – Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Data Mart, Geoconnections –
Natural
Resources Information System, Health (Cancer) – Online Drug Claim
Reimbursement System, Health (Engineering) – Data Warehouse,
Municipalities – Data Warehouse Strategies, and the Sustainable
Resources
– Aerial Photography System.
As a futurist and realist, he firmly believes that ignorance is the
root
of the vast majority of problems and the lack of communication is
the
inhibitor to solving the same problems. Both issues restrict and slow down
humanity from evolving into interstellar enlightenment and engagement, and
the establishment and continuation of the species are perpetually
off-world, which leaves humankind at total risk, being located on a single
planet susceptible to any number of global doomsday scenarios. To solve
these issues, he strongly predicts and promotes the use of virtual
reality, multi-user shared habitats (MUSHs), and full-immersive
visualizations of problems and their solutions. People, whatever their
position in life, “will believe it when they see it” and feel part of the
solution, and therefore, the chances of acceptance and advancement are far
greater.
John is a Mensan who graduated from the University of Western Ontario with
a bachelor of arts, with concentration in film theory and criticism, where
he moved the curriculum so that students could create films instead of
essays to relay ideas. Earlier, he produced the first high school video
yearbook in Canada. Prior to that, he was given advanced education in
stop-motion films at an early age and started programming in machine
languages at the age of 10.
Read his
LinkedIn profile.
Follow his Twitter feed.