About Us
JEBEL SHAMS, OMAN © STEVE JOHNSON
Abigail Johnson (1955 - 2023)
Abigail Johnson worked closely with the executive teams at over 130 startups – and numerous large companies – and directed the initial launch of over 100 of them. As a result of this rare, perhaps nearly unmatched experience, she led Roeder-Johnson to develop a unique way to help young, cutting-edge technology companies shape their communications, based upon unearthing the long-term "High Concept" of the company – a simple, understandable, and memorable statement of value, market leadership, and uniqueness. Whether definitive or directional (since some young and cutting-edge companies need a bit of flexibility), the High Concept informs a company’s communications strategy at all phases.
In Johnson’s hands, this approach was particularly powerful for companies that wished to launch with only hint of their long-term position, without giving away the whole story. And yet, as more of the story emerged over the ensuing months or years, every new piece remained consistent with the High Concept, as the company’s entire vision emerged.
Prior to co-founding Roeder-Johnson in 1989, Johnson headed international marketing for a communications consultancy in Tokyo, Japan. From 1982-1986, she was with Regis McKenna Inc, a Silicon Valley pioneer in positioning and launching high-technology startups. While at Regis-McKenna, she personally engineered the launch of many fledgling startups that are now among the highest-profile technology companies in the world.
Johnson’s view of communications was always informed by a core question that she cared deeply about early in her career, when she consulted on several congressional and presidential campaigns: “How are we changing the world?” She graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. She died in September, 2023.
Steve Johnson
Steve Johnson has been responsible for the day-to-day back office and operations of Roeder-Johnson Corporation, and its post strategic communications activities. Moreover, for over two decades, he provided a technical point of view, and helped shape Roeder-Johnson’s High Concept approach to communications.
Before co-founding Roeder-Johnson Corporation in 1989, Johnson was the founding president and CEO of Silicon Compilers Far East Company, responsible for the development of all Japan and Asian operations for the well-known CAD venture. From 1982 through 1986, he served as vice president of engineering and product development for the parent Silicon Compilers, Inc, where he led the 100-person engineering team that produced the world's first commercially-successful silicon compiler.
In the fourteen years prior to 1982, Johnson held a succession of executive and senior management positions at CAD pioneer Scientific Calculations, Inc. (now Harris Corporation), and chipmaker Signetics Corporation, later a subsidiary of N.V. Philips.
Johnson holds a BSEE from Carnegie-Mellon University, and an MBA from Santa Clara University. He has published numerous articles in the U.S. and Japan, and holds a U.S. patent in integrated circuits.