John Chapple

John H. Chapple is the President and a principal of Hawkeye Investments LLC, a private equity investment business he has led since 2006. Hawkeye was formed after the sale of Nextel Partners, with Chapple initially using personal capital and working closely with Rally Capital, led by former Nextel Partners director Dennis Weibling.

Before Hawkeye, Chapple helped organize Nextel Partners and served as its President, CEO, and Chairman from August 1998 until June 2006. Nextel Partners operated digital wireless services in mid-size and smaller U.S. markets and was acquired by Sprint Nextel in 2006; press accounts at the time described the transaction as roughly $9 billion to $9.5 billion.

Earlier in his career, Chapple held senior operating roles across cable, wireless, and sports. He served on the senior management team at Rogers Cablesystems from 1978 to 1983, was Senior Vice President of Operations at American Cablesystems from 1983 to 1988, and was Executive Vice President of Operations at McCaw Cellular Communications and then AT&T Wireless from 1988 to 1995. From 1995 to 1997 he was President and COO of Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment, owner/operator of the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Grizzlies, and General Motors Place.

Chapple earned a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and completed Harvard University’s Advanced Management Program. Syracuse University currently lists him as a Life Trustee, and earlier SEC filings note his service on the Maxwell School Board of Advisors and industry leadership roles including past chairman of Cellular One Group and the Personal Communications Industry Association.

• Invests primarily in telecommunications and real estate ventures through Hawkeye Investments.
• Focus has included seed and early-stage financings, with some growth-stage capital exposure.
• Uses deep telecom operating experience as a filter: Seattle P-I reported that Chapple was “especially interested in new services for mobile phones.”
• Has shown willingness to back cloud communications and business-communications infrastructure, including Telesphere, a VoIP/UCaaS provider for SMBs.
• Often works with known telecom operators and co-investors; early Hawkeye activity was done alongside Rally Capital.
• Appears to value sector-specific operating leverage and relationships, not just capital. In 2006, he said he knew “a lot of smart, creative people” with ideas about moving “society and technology” forward.