John Hummer

John R. Hummer (born May 4, 1948) is an American venture capitalist and retired professional basketball player who was an original member of the Buffalo Braves after starring for the Princeton Tigers men's basketball team. He also led his high school to the 1966 Virginia State 1A championship and helped Princeton earn a 1967–68 co-Ivy League Championship as well as a 1968–69 outright Ivy League Championship. Over the course of his basketball career, he was coached by four National Basketball Hall of Fame members.

In college, Hummer was a three-time All-Ivy League selection (first-team: 1969 and 1970, second team: 1968). He played for two Ivy League champion teams and served as team captain as a senior. Ed had led the team to the 1962 and 1963 titles.

In Hummer's sophomore season at Princeton, the team was co-champion of the Ivy League with a 20–6 (12–3 Ivy) record. they lost the one-game league playoff to the Jim McMillian-led 1968 Columbia Lions. This was the first of eleven NCAA tournament appearance for Carril. It was also the first of three 14–0 conference champions for Carril. Although Princeton did not appear in the 1970 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, they hosted Penn's game. Hummer was honored with the team's B. Franklin Bunn ’07 Award for play, sportsmanship and influence that contributed most to the sport.

During his career, he shared the spotlight with Petrie and did not set any statistical records at a school and conference where Bill Bradley continues to dominate the record books. Over the course of his career, Hummer was the 9th Tiger to accumulate 1000 career points (1031 in 67 games) and he continued to rank seventh in school history with a 15.4 points/game average through the 2009–10 season. Since his career ended in 1970 only Brian Taylor has posted a higher average. He stands eighth in career free throws made (297), having only been passed since his career ended by Craig Robinson and Kit Mueller. He is tenth in career rebounds.

Professional basketball career Following his senior season, Hummer was one of three first-round Ivy League selections in the 1970 NBA Draft (Petrie – 8th, McMillian 13th and Hummer 15th). The 1970 draft included two promising All-American local-Buffalo area talents: St. Bonaventure University's Buffalo-born Bob Lanier and Niagara University's Calvin Murphy. Murphy was a fan favorite that many local fans hoped the Braves would select. However, Braves General Manager Eddie Donovan doubted the Murphy could make it in the NBA. The Baltimore Bullets traded to improve their draft position on the day of the March 23, 1970 NBA draft. They traded their #15 selection and Mike Davis to the expansion Buffalo Braves for the #9 selection. That day, the Braves selected Hummer with the 15th pick. The 22–60 Braves finished fourth in the four-team Atlantic Division. The 1972–73 Braves were Jack Ramsay's first coaching season with his second NBA team.

After the Braves selected Ernie DiGregorio in the 1973 NBA draft to complement 1972 NBA draft selection Bob McAdoo, it was clear the team was going to change to fast-paced offense to leverage DiGregorio's skills. Hummer was more of a defensive player. Prior to the 1973–74 NBA season, Hummer was packaged with a 1974 NBA draft 2nd round pick and a 1975 NBA draft 2nd round pick in a trade that sent him to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Gar Heard and Kevin Kunnert. That season the 54–28 Dick Motta-coached 1973–74 Bulls team that he was traded to initially would make the playoffs, but the 36–46 Bill Russell-coached 1973–74 SuperSonics that he would finish the season with would not.

During the season (on January 7), he was traded by the Bulls to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for a 1975 NBA draft 2nd round selection. Russell's SuperSonics (1974–75 and 1975–76) were the only playoff teams for whom he played in the postseason. In the 1975 NBA Playoffs, the Sonics defeated the Detroit Pistons 2–1 in the first round before losing to the Golden State Warriors 4–2. Hummer appeared in six of the nine playoff games that year, but accumulated no points.

Venture capitalism In 1989 Ann Winblad and Hummer founded Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, which claims to have been the first venture capital firm to focus exclusively on the Software industry.

The company has financed over 100 ventures that have been on the forefront of trends that have gone from personal computer (PC) software to enterprise computing to Internet applications. The company's investments have now spanned generations of software applications, architectures, delivery methods, and business models, including Omniture, Voltage Security, MuleSoft, Wind River Systems and Hyperion Solutions.

Other notable companies that Hummer Winblad Venture Partners did provide venture capital for, that no longer exist, are Napster, Pets.com, and HomeGrocer.

Career statistics

NBA Source

Regular season Year Team GP GS MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG

Playoffs Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG