Michael serves as Founder and General Partner of Atento Capital, playing a key role in shaping the firm's vision and strategy for investments. Actively participating in both the team and the broader portfolio, Michael spends his days sourcing deals and supporting portfolio companies. Michael started his entrepreneurial journey as a lemonade stand owner at age eight; by nine, he had monopolized the intersection by hiring four of his friends. Through undergrad and business school, he opened and operated 22 coffee shops and managed a $19M, 400-person coffee operation. Michael eventually partnered with close friends to grow a product manufacturing company to nearly $40M in revenue before selling it to a publicly traded company. During that time, Michael began investing in real estate as well as angel investing. This led him to join Spotad, one of his portfolio companies, as President, building that from $0 to $16M in revenue in under two years. In 2016, Michael felt much was at stake in the election, and could not sit on the sidelines. He joined the Clinton campaign, organizing in Madison, Wisconsin. The huge disparity between what Michael experienced in Wisconsin vs. what he knew in California and New York led him to realize the country had become bifurcated in its distribution of opportunity. This understanding eventually led him to move to Tulsa in early 2018, where he partnered with the George Kaiser Family Foundation to launch Atento Capital. Michael received his BA and MBA from The University of Southern California and has lived in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, London, and Tel Aviv - before now proudly residing in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Michael is husband to Romi, and father to Leo, Olivia, and his furry daughter, Osita.
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