Michael joined NEA in 2021, and is currently a Principal on the Healthcare team, focused on digital health investing at all stages. Previously, he was in the Healthcare group at Court Square Capital. He started his career at PJT Partners as a member of its inaugural analyst class following the firm’s spinoff from the Blackstone Group. Michael graduated from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he studied international relations and economics.
You’re focused on healthcare investing. Describe the opportunity you see in this space.
US healthcare spending is quickly overwhelming the economy and will be a defining challenge for my generation. It’s a Gordian knot that goes far beyond building better businesses or inventing new technologies—viable solutions will have to address the social and policy complexities inherent in healthcare. These social and policy complexities deter many talented founders and investors from focusing on healthcare, but as a result, I think there’s a huge opportunity for those who do to make a significant impact.
What are you most passionate about when it comes to your work?
The people I get to work with are the most inspiring part of this job. The team at NEA is a steady source of camaraderie and mentorship, and I get to meet a wide variety of founders with different visions and personalities. It keeps the job endlessly interesting.
What’s a trait you had as a child that is still present in you today?
Curiosity. I was obsessed with Legos as a kid because you could take something apart and put it back together again step by step to see how all of the elements worked together. I still follow this basic process when thinking about companies or industries: I look at all of the parts of a product or business to understand how they work together to make something bigger.
What nonprofit organizations are you involved with? Why are they important to you?
I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and I’m involved with LaunchTN—a statewide public-private partnership initiative designed to foster startup growth and venture capital formation in my home state. As a transplant to the Bay Area, with no prior ties at all to venture capital or finance, I think it is extremely important to push for diversity in entrepreneurship, including geographic diversity, and I am always excited to meet founders outside of the San Francisco and New York City hubs.
You studied foreign service at Georgetown. How did that influence your career path?
Although I didn't end up a diplomat or spy, there are aspects of those jobs that I apply to my role as a VC—namely, by being a trusted representative for our founders and LPs, and avoiding publicity to focus on building companies. My collegiate emphasis on public policy also naturally drew me to healthcare as a focus area.
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“Social and policy complexities deter many talented founders and investors from focusing on healthcare, but as a result, I think there’s a huge opportunity for those who do to make a significant impact.”
