Mike Edelhart
Mike Edelhart is the lead partner, Social Starts, an early stage investment fund for companies oriented toward building the “Social Construct” and the revolution that the Era of Social Media is bringing. He is also CEO of Tomorrow Project, LLC, producers of the Pivot Conference in New York City.
During his time in the industry, Edelhart was a managing director and founder of First30 Services, which helped early stage companies accelerate launches.
He has also served as interim CEO at LiveDeal, advisor to DeepDyve (after having served as the company’s CEO), and Chairman of the Board of Olive Software, again, after having served as CEO. Earlier in his career, he was also CEO of Inman News, Zinio, BarterTrust and Third Age Media.
Edelhart was a senior executive at Softbank, and spent more than a decade at Ziff-Davis Publishing, focusing on technology in the heyday of the hardware and internet revolutions of the 90s. He is the author of 25 books.
Edelhart earned a degree in journalism from the University of Northern Colorado.
Investment Arm:
Social Starts
Selected Investments:
SocialRank
Elite Daily
Boxed
Mashable
Triple Lift
RentHop
comiXology
Nestio
Social Media:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Memorable Quotes from Mike Edelhart:
On visualization as the new vocabulary: “It is a truism that pictures are inherently more powerful than words. Even language reflects that truth. When people want you to understand something, they say “picture this,” not “hear this.”
On engagement: “Engagement is shifting to describe the delicate dance among individuals and the choices they face in what to do and when and how to do it.”
On the difference between mobile and social: “Mobile is social. They are the same thing. Gravity and acceleration are the same thing. Two aspects of the same phenomenon.”
