Michael Ph.D.'s Email Addresses & Phone Numbers

At Rostrum Capital, I invest in the next generation of platform companies, including Mousera (new platform for discovering drugs), Hooked (instant gratification for millennials), and Slash (life in your keyboard). Rostrum Capital will invest $100,000-250,000 in 15 companies in the next two years, and provide technical assistance on how to build platform businesses. Since 2011, I have...

At Rostrum Capital, I invest in the next generation of platform companies, including Mousera (new platform for discovering drugs), Hooked (instant gratification for millennials), and Slash (life in your keyboard). Rostrum Capital will invest $100,000-250,000 in 15 companies in the next two years, and provide technical assistance on how to build platform businesses. Since 2011, I have been focused on mobile. I raised over $2.5mm and recruited a 6-person team to explore how mobile can transform video consumption and shopping. EndlessTV offered swipeable video (even offline!), and Tip or Skip is the first mobile app to provide swipeable shopping. These apps have been downloaded by 3 million users and featured by Apple and Google. I founded e-thePeople to improve how citizens participate in politics through information technology. e-thePeople has informed over 10mm voters. In 1993 as computer science major at Princeton, I pursued a project to create an online auction. I abandoned that project when my adviser dinged me by asking "who would ever use an online auction?"​ and my parents told me to "get a real job."​ My first job was strategy consulting at Oliver, Wyman. My lifelong love for social applications of technology was first inspired by dialing into a BBS with my Hayes 300bd modem as a 6th grader in the mid '80s. I teach my two older children (1st & 3rd grade) to program games in Scratch, although what they really want to make is iPhone apps. ;) I write about technology, business and politics on my blog, www.weiksner.com.Angel investor @ I invest in early stage tech companies and participate throughout private lifecycle. First money in Mousera. Focus on platforms that disrupt traditional value chains with new tools, gravity and matchmaking. From January 2015 to Present (1 year) Chairman & Trustee @ e-thePeople connects citizens to their elected officials through partnerships with over a hundred newspaper and TV station web sites. I contribute to product development, with a few fingers in business development too. e-thePeople is a self-sustaining 501c3 nonpartisan, nonprofit. I co-founded e-thePeople and now am a volunteer Trustee. e-thePeople has reached tens of millions of voters over the past 10+ years. From September 1999 to Present (16 years 4 months) CEO @ I raised over $2.5mm. Recruited and led a six-person for five years, launching three critically-acclaimed products. The team had deep expertise in mobile, commerce and engineering, including Mike Weiksner (Princeton CS / Stanford PhD) and Nathaniel McNamara (PrivacyBank sold to InfoSpace, Wharton MBA, HIG Ventures) and three engineers with 10+ years experience. Projects include: 1) LAUNCHED ENDLESSTV (Aug 2013-January 2015) EndlessTV is the best way to watch video on mobile. Helping video publishers enter the era of taps and swipes. > Featured by Apple > Featured by Google > Picked by Time as one of the top 50 Apps of 2014 > Over 3 million downloads Find us in the App Store and Google Play: http://www.endlesstv.com 2) LAUNCHED TIP OR SKIP (Nov '11 - Aug '13) Tip or Skip was "hot or not" for products. Tip products you like, skip what you don't. > Registered users evaluate 57 products on average in their first visit. > Over 3 million product evaluations > 17% of users click “buy now” link on one or more products, up from < 1% at launch > Infer desires, preferences, and even dislikes of users Praise for Tip or Skip "The most addictive way to get your friends to shop, ever!" -- The Next Web "Anna Wintour, watch out!" -- The New York Daily News Fox News interview about sway and gamification: http://t.tips.by/fox-sway And also featured in USA Today, Washington Post, CNET, PandoDaily, GigaOm & Wired 3) LAUNCHED SOCIALFEET (Apr '09 - Oct '11) A single-line of javascript that enables web sites to share the social actions happening on their site on Facebook and across the web. Responsible for product development, fund raising and general management. From April 2009 to Present (6 years 9 months) Ph.D. @ I successfully defended my dissertation, "Complicating the Ideal of an Informed Citizenry" in May 2010. In 2008, I wrote a research paper called "Six Patterns of Persuasion in Online Social Networks" that is a foundation of Tip or Skip. From September 2005 to June 2010 (4 years 10 months) Product Manager, Financial Services @ Responsible for writing analyst reports about consumer financial services on the Internet. Responsible for strategic partnerships with financial services companies like Chase, Charles Schwab, Webster Bank. My first taste of a startup life. From September 1998 to September 1999 (1 year 1 month) Consultant @ My first "real" job. Developed a Monte Carlo risk model for the CFO of the World Bank. Ran a team of three consultants to analyze the credit portfolio of Bancomer. Worked on a mortgage strategy project for JP Morgan Chase. Learned to be an Excel and Powerpoint wiz. From 1995 to October 1998 (3 years) Ph.D., Department of Communication @ Stanford University From 2005 to 2010 AB, Computer Science, Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs @ Princeton University From 1991 to 1995 Hunter College High School From 1985 to 1991 Michael Ph.D. is skilled in: User Experience, startups, Product Design, Start-ups, Mobile Devices, Social Networking, Information Architecture, Entrepreneurship, Analytics, E-commerce, Strategic Partnerships, Web Applications, Mobile Applications, Product Development, Business Development