Matthew D. Jones
Founder & President, Towlos
After finishing residency in orthopedics and a sports medicine fellowship at UCLA in 2012, I worked as an orthopedic surgeon for 10 years in Terre Haute, Indiana and in Chicago at Northwestern Medicine. I enjoyed the interactions with my patients, and the ability to use my training and my hands to achieve very tangible results. I also really enjoyed the teaching that naturally occurs in the medical profession. It was fulfilling to help medical students, residents, and others develop their knowledge and skill sets to heal people.
While orthopedic surgery was my first love, I have always had a passion for the entrepreneurial world of new ideas and discovering better ways to do things. As a result, I immersed myself in healthcare incubators and medical startups in the Chicago area, invested in venture capital, and worked with the innovations lab at Northwestern. In 2021 I made the decision to pivot away from medicine and dive full-time into becoming an entrepreneur.
As you can imagine, this was a very scary move for myself and my family. Some applauded my tenacity and fortitude, while others doubted its plausibility and felt I should continue with a “great, stable job.” I know that I have so much to learn, but I am excited to have made significant progress already. Currently, the most visible example of this is my founding of Towlos, an online trailer sharing marketplace. This venture has introduced me to a whole new world of software development, user experience, market research, business planning and strategy, acquisition of other companies, the intricacies of marketing, building a great network, and the list continues. While I no longer repair rotator cuffs, reconstruct ACLs or fix fractures, I maintain a similar passion for learning and teaching as I felt while practicing medicine.
In this next chapter, I am eagerly investing in and exploring my second love of solving challenging problems while continuing this pursuit of entrepreneurial dreams.
To read the inspiration behind towlos, go to: https://towlos.com/about-us
Here’s to life long learning!
Matthew D. Jones