Gentry’s mentorship and management model have been broadly praised. Chris Gaglia, a former OpenX worker, recalled Gentry’s preliminary hesitance to rent him over issues that Gaglia was a surfer, and Gentry was “nervous about motivation.” Nevertheless, the 2 bonded shortly and, “because it turned out, JG liked paddleboarding and spending time in Newport Seaside—and as soon as we linked, we by no means appeared again,” Gaglia mentioned.
“Each every so often, you meet somebody who leaves an enduring imprint in your life. JG was a kind of folks,” Gaglia mentioned. “Though my time working with him was far too brief, I’ll always remember our weekly one-on-ones—half nervous, half excited—as a result of he was all the time direct, all the time anticipated outcomes, and but someway all the time despatched you away sharper than if you walked in. He was a pacesetter who challenged you, believed in you, and made you higher. The business misplaced an ideal one.”
Michael Todd, an government at Silver Lake Companions who beforehand labored as chief know-how officer and at OpenX, remembered Gentry as a considerate and caring presence. “John was instrumental in constructing OpenX into the impartial, people-first advert tech firm it turned recognized for over the previous decade,” Todd informed ADWEEK. “He mixed deep business instinct with real take care of these round him, and he pushed everybody to function at a better normal. I used to be lucky to be taught from him as a pacesetter and to know him as an individual.”
Tributes to Gentry flooded social media following the information of his demise.
Jason Fairchild, cofounder and CEO of TV adtech agency tvScientific, in a submit, referred to as Gentry “an business chief, a pioneer, a collaborator to many people, and an unbelievable government.” He additionally characterised Gentry as his “finest good friend,” “mentor,” and “greatest fan.”
Fairchild and Gentry labored collectively at software program agency GoTo.com earlier than Fairchild recruited Gentry to hitch OpenX. Underneath his oversight, Fairchild wrote, “OpenX re-transformed right into a high-growth firm pushed by innovation and unbelievable execution.”
In an announcement to ADWEEK, Fairchild added: “John was a pressure of nature. A pressure centered on doing the proper factor. The best factor for the corporate and the proper factor for the person. The pressure was uncompromising and infrequently pushed folks out of their consolation zones, but it surely was grounded in empathy and take care of the individual.”
Of their private lives, Gentry and Fairchild have been extraordinarily shut. “We spent numerous hours collectively commuting, vacationing, and simply hanging out, speaking about work, life’s ups and downs, our objectives, household, and no matter was happening,” Fairchild wrote in his submit. “We raised our children collectively, sharing Christmas mornings or teaming up towards the children for epic Name of Responsibility matches, solely to get our asses kicked by 8-year-olds. We have been out and in of one another’s chaotic every day lives for many years. He was the primary good friend I’d name with excellent news or to speak by means of a life problem.”
Gentry’s selflessness and good nature have been echoed by others who knew him and labored with him.
