# Don Spear

> Don Spear is the co-founder and CEO of OpenSesame, the Portland-based marketplace that lets companies find, buy, and manage elearning courses the way people buy songs on iTunes. A Rice University engineer and Harvard MBA, he spent decades scaling companies - from PetSmart through its IPO to Banfield Pet Hospital's expansion from 4 to 250 locations - before founding BlueVolt and then OpenSesame in 2010. Today he leads a catalog of tens of thousands of courses and an AI-driven push to make workplace learning easier to find and use.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at OpenSesame
- **Organizations:** OpenSesame, BlueVolt, Banfield Pet Hospital, PetSmart
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Undergraduate studies in Electrical Engineering and Economics, Rice University, MBA, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled OpenSesame into a leading elearning marketplace serving global enterprises, Grew a course catalog to tens of thousands of titles across compliance, leadership, and business skills, Led Banfield, The Pet Hospital through expansion from 4 to 250 locations

## Career timeline

- **1993** — Joined PetSmart in senior officer/director roles, serving from founding through IPO
- **1995** — Became President of Banfield, The Pet Hospital, leading expansion from 4 to 250 locations
- **2003** — Founded BlueVolt, an online LMS provider for manufacturing, construction, and service industries
- **2010** — Co-founded OpenSesame with Joshua Blank, Aaron Bridges, and Tom Turnbull
- **2011** — OpenSesame launched publicly as a marketplace for elearning courses
- **2021** — OpenSesame received a $50 million Series D strategic growth investment led by JMI Equity
- **2025** — OpenSesame expanded its catalog and launched AI-powered tools including an AI Coach

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled OpenSesame into a leading elearning marketplace serving global enterprises
- Grew a course catalog to tens of thousands of titles across compliance, leadership, and business skills
- Led Banfield, The Pet Hospital through expansion from 4 to 250 locations
- Served at PetSmart from its founding through IPO in senior operations and strategy roles
- Founded BlueVolt, a successful LMS company for industrial markets
- Raised a $50 million strategic growth round for OpenSesame in 2021

## Latest updates

- **2025-08** — OpenSesame continued rolling out product updates and AI-powered curation and coaching tools for its expanding course catalog.
- **2021-07** — OpenSesame closed a $50 million strategic growth investment led by JMI Equity to accelerate its elearning marketplace.

## Links

- Website: https://www.opensesame.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donspear
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3be3AYiIlkE

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/don-spear
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-17