Mike never liked being put in a box so he spent the last 15 years as an entrepreneur, investment banker, author, university professor, motivational speaker, angel investor and as a pro-bono fundraiser for various charities.



In 2012, Mike founded GeniusGiver.com, a crowdfunding and social network platform targeting the long-tail of charitable fundraising.

 From 2006 to 2011, Mike was the President of Leo & Leo, a European brand management and consulting company based in Romania. Brands managed or represented included Maserati, Segway, NetJets, PrivatSea, Sunseeker Yachts, Marsh, Orgil Greenhouses, Miss Universe, and Rockstar Energy Drink.



From 2000 to 2006, Mike served as Founding CEO of Pioneer TeleCare, an e-commerce company distributing consumer goods through 26 different websites. Annual revenues reached $2.5 million and the company employed 20 employees in Los Angeles and India. 

From 1998 to 2003, Mike was an Associate at WestPark Capital, The Interlink Group, Millennium Capital Partners, all Los Angeles-based investment banking firms.



Mike holds a degree in Economics from Pepperdine University (Malibu, California), a Certificate in Negotiations, Arbitration, and Mediation from Pepperdine’s School of Law and has completed the Program on Negotiations for Senior Executives at Harvard. 



From 2003 to 2012, Mike served on the Board of Directors and as the Director of Fundraising & Strategy (pro bono) for Blue Heron Foundation, a charitable organization which invested $1,000,000 in college scholarships for Romanian orphaned teenagers.



Born in Bucharest, Romania in 1977, Mike migrated to Israel in 1988 and in 1992 to the United States. He currently resides in Bel Air, California.

Mike was featured in over 4,000 articles, including: USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Inc., China Central TV, Business Week, Men’s Health, Top Gear. In 2008, Ziarul Financiar (Romania’s nr 1 financial newspaper) named Mike one of the Top 1000 business people.