RBL Agency, a specialized recruiting firm for technologists, was the first company to have a classified advertisement in The New York Times with an email address in 1993 and then a website in 1995.
His early efforts included creating New Media Labs, a Silicon Alley-based research and development firm, to construct technology for the Internet.
Some of his first projects included building the largest transactional system in the world for Columbia House Records and network monitoring solutions for Merck Pharmaceuticals in early 1996.
In May 1999, Johnson completed his first round of financing through a venture capital firm, Generation Partners, and then immediately filed to take his company public.
On August 16, Johnson completed the 1st IPO[4] of HotJobs, which he later followed up with a secondary offering in November 1999; his efforts succeeded in raising over $165 million in 1999 from outside public investors.
The next month, Johnson approached Andrew McKelvey, the CEO of TMP Worldwide Inc. and struck a deal[6] to sell HotJobs to the owner of Monster.com.
The transaction inevitably failed to close after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched an Antitrust Case[7] against the merger,[8] allowing Yahoo to make an unsolicited bid[9] and ultimately acquire HotJobs in February 2002 for $436 million.
In the following months of 2002, Johnson moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, shifting his focus on raising his family and helping non-profit organizations (NPO).
[19] As an active board member, he implemented a fundraising campaign to restore the building, brought in an anchor tenant The Pumpkin Patch Preschool[20] that transitioned the community center into a concrete educational tool, and developed a monthly speaker program relying on Jackson Hole’s most famous citizens.
Initially founded by four individuals, Emily strategically restructured WildAid, assigning two founders to concentrate on utilizing marketing campaigns to drive change.
With Masonboro.org,[25] Johnson developed the Island Explorers Program (ILX),[27] an educational component through partnerships with the NC Coastal Reserve,[28] Carolina Ocean Studies[29] and New Hanover County Schools.
After purchasing several buildings downtown, Johnson partnered with Jay Kranchalk,[35] a former Cape Fear Academy teacher, to open Fat Daddy’s Pizzeria.
[1] In 2023, Johnson was honored with the David Brinkley Award by the Historic Wilmington Foundation in recognition of his exceptional large-scale preservation efforts.
OYO is designed to give hopeful entrepreneurs the opportunity to connect with investors, open small businesses and help revitalize historic downtowns.
This included a Town-Square Cookoff where 200 community members cast their votes for their favorite concepts, as well as a number of challenges hosted by award-winning area chef judges.