I have never had a chance to meet Jason in person, but I am lucky to currently work with those who hold him in deep respect and affection. A serendipitous and beautiful thing happened yesterday, and I thought I must share it here.
A touch of context: Back in the beginning of October, my supervisor handed me Jason's last article on entrepreneurial learning from failure, purely for research purposes and for me to focus on a specific section. But as I read this deep, fascinating work, it became clear it has so much more to say than just findings subheading. Although I am in the UK now, doing my PhD, I have a friend back in my home country, thousands of miles away from me, who is going through a rough patch following the failure of her start-up. As the thought of her lingered in my mind, I shared Jason's perceptive, by all means, work with her, and the effect it had on her was nothing short of profound and probably even healing in some way.
Now, to the heart of yesterday: This very friend of mine met a very successful (now, but it took him a lot of learning!) entrepreneur currently managing the "most prestigious accelerator" in London during one of the events she organised back in our home city (my beloved Baku). As they were talking about entrepreneurial journey, he mentioned Jason and his work as a classic in the literature on entrepreneurial learning. Imagine my friend then, ahaha! Of course, she said she was a big fan of Jason's work and that I shared it with her a few months ago. This morning, she texted me, telling me this story and how warmly they remembered Jason, raising a glass in his memory and the legacy he left behind. The legacy that has not only enhanced our knowledge of entrepreneurial learning but is also a guiding light for many practitioners in the field.
I thought I should share this somewhere and this website seemed to be the best place.
With warm regards
1st December 2023
Jason.... I am the worst friend you had! In fact I was never any competition - you ruled the games and everything around you. We had some good times and even though we lived together with both sister and managed to fuck things up royally I will never forget you and the amazing few years we had in Lancaster. You were so fucking cool! I love you forever!! Mike
Mike
25th June 2021