Being the Founder & CEO of multiple successful companies, the inventor of the GeoOrbital wheel, and the Evergreen Startup framework, I have been very fortunate to have a few flirtations with the Media. These folks are much better storytellers than I am, and every once in a while, they make some amazing videos that feature me and my work. I think there is no better way to introduce myself than to share some of those with you.
Great Big Story is a division of CNN that creates micro-documentaries and short films about noteworthy people, projects, fascinating science, and origins of amazing things. The thesis of Great Big Story is to cinematically
present
to the viewer amazing things from around the world. CNN reached out to me in 2018 and asked I would be open to them doing a documentary about me and the creation and impact of the GeoOrbital wheel. The video that they put
together
after only a few days of shooting is amazing!
Check out the Great Big Story YouTube channel for amazing cinematic storytelling about the world that we all share.
ABC’s SHARK TANK needs no introduction. Since it premiered in 2009 it has been the top forum to showcase entrepreneurs and emerging companies. The show features a panel of celebrity investors (the SHARKS) and
airs
during primetime on one the world's top TV networks, it is often considered a top honor to be selected and aired. Many of the ideas and are cutting-edge and SHARKS pride themselves on providing honest, and often brutal feedback
making the show extremely popular and entertaining to watch.
In 2017 was honored to have the opportunity to duke it out on primetime TV with the SHARKS in the TANK – and I think I held my own. Two of the SHARKS
ended
up buying multiple products form us and Kevin O’Leary and I met up for a while after the show aired and really dove in on the most pressing topics
affecting
innovation today.
The Edison Awards are sometimes referred to as "The Oscars of Innovation" and are given annually in the name of Thomas Edison, one of the best-known inventors in history. The Edison Awards “symbolize the
persistence and excellence in innovation …. award winners represent game-changing products, services and excellence and leadership in innovation,” and are judged by a panel of more than 3,000 of the world’s leading executives.
The video that I included was filmed before I was announced as a winner of a Gold Edison Award (the top honor), and beating out several household names for innovation and excellence.
The Discovery Chanel is another household name that is available in 409 million households worldwide. It mainly provides documentary television programming focused primarily on popular science, technology, and history. Amazingly
they found my company while we were still completely bootstrapped, and in “stealth mode,” we desperately needed to sell our first Securities and were just starting to present the GeoOrbital wheel to a very select group of investors.
Somehow,
the Discovery Channel found out about us getting ready to launch and reached-out, asking to be the very first to air us to the world.
Within a week, they had a 7-person video crew at our temporary prototyping space and
began filming. This was the first time that we were on TV, and the wheels that you see are very early prototypes that made it through many more iterations before being released to the public. To this day it is a mystery how the
Discovery Channel found out about us.
The IDE Conference is a celebration of innovation-driven entrepreneurship, which brings together hundreds of entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and members of the technology community. The 2018 Conference
occurred
in Bangkok, Thailand as a collaboration between the MIT Enterprise Forum and the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
I was invited to keynote at the “Think Big Act Small” symposium to talk about invention and how all of us
can
change the world with our thoughts if we are able to get into the right state of mind. This video is an excerpt of my longer talk about creating a framework for building comfort with your inherent ability to invent.
01.
Discover
First, a founder identifies market opportunities and whether their solution is innovative and can fit a market need. Important components of this stage are establishing if the idea should be pursued, why it should be pursued right now, and whether the founder is the right person to pursue it.
02.
Develop
Identifying the goal is the next step. Is the innitial goal to build a community, to get users, to effect change, to make a process better, etc...? Making money is a by-product, not a goal - and every start-up is different. Once the goal is identified, the team is built, and the foundation of the innitial product/service is developed.
03.
Enrich
After the core of the innovation is identified and the technical and commercial foundation is laid - it is time to build a house that no one has ever seen before. The house is made from the right product/service, market, culture, and team. This is the step where you add meat to the bones, and its best to add muscle.
04.
Commercialize
Commercialization isn't sales. It is the process of making something available to its intended community. Letting it out in the wild and seeing how people react to it. Whether you are building a movement, software, or selling pizza ovens, the market's feedback is key to understanding your product, sales, and business models.
05.
Fund
The reality is that a startup, like life, requires money and support. As I discuss, in detail, in my new book "The Evergreen Startup," access to capital is the top predictor of a startup's success, and the odds are stacked against the average founder. There are dozens of proven tools to get traditional and non-traditional funding and support.
06.
Grow
Once a startup has an established base of offerings, customers, and investors (traditional and non-traditional), the startup can grow. Growing for a startup is the process of exploring new markets, products, team structures, investors, and evolving goals. Making it to this stage is great, but surviving at this stage is a challenge.
- All
- Teaching
- Speaking
- Incubating
- Awards
- My Startups
Katja Wald
MIT Enterprise Forum
The MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Cambridge’s purpose is to provide early-stage technology entrepreneurs the tools and support to succeed faster. As the Executive Director, I’m always looking for seasoned entrepreneurs (with both successes and failures under their belt) to share their real-world knowledge and experiences with the aspiring entrepreneurs in our community. Michael is an insightful, honest, engaging, and relatable instructor. He has my highest recommendation.
Philip Greenwald
Harvard University Innovation Lab
As the Associate Director of Technology at Harvard Innovation Labs, I lead technology programming and advise student and alumni entrepreneurs on making new ideas into reality. I have invited Michael to speak to our cohorts. Whenever he speaks his insightfulness and experience really shine though, people love hearing the real truth about bringing real innovation to the world - he is one of the top minds in his field.
Dakota Decker
CTO, GeoOrbital
I've been working with Mike for 4 years now, and his management of GeoOrbital has been inspiring. He is fair and honest with his employees and stays steadfast, maybe even stubborn, in his optimism for our company succeeding through all the roadblocks that a startup faces. He is an easy leader to rally behind.
Steve Lehr
CSO, Cangrade
Put simply, Mike is one of the most brilliant, personable and dedicated people I've ever worked with. He has amazing knowledge across many domains, and an almost preternatural ability to pick out just the right thought or piece of information for any moment and any problem. Mike's extreme competence, warm manner, and personal connection to our team, customers and investors make him an exceptional entrepreneur and leader.