Christopher Michel

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Chris is the Managing Director of Nautilus Ventures, a fund focused on supporting entrepreneurs in building great companies. He is also the Founder of Affinity Labs, a digital media company managing a portfolio of leading online professional communities. In 2008, Affinity Labs was acquired by Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW).

Prior to founding Affinity Labs, he founded Military.com, the nation’s largest military membership organization. Military.com connects its 11 million members to the lifelong benefits of military service and provides public and private sector clients efficient access to the military market. Members trust Military.com for career, education and financial services. In 2004, Military.com was also acquired by Monster.

Chris also served as a Naval Flight Officer in the United States Navy. While on active duty, Chris flew as a P-3 Navigator, Tactical Coordinator and Mission Commander in support of maritime interdiction operations in the Red Sea, NATO enforcement operations in the Adriatic, and counter-narcotics missions in Central America. Following his operational tour, Chris worked in the Pentagon as Aide to the Chief of the Naval Reserve.

An advocate for those who serve, Chris is a frequent speaker and has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Business Week, Financial Times, and other publications. He has also been a regular guest on CNN and other national radio and TV programs. In addition, he is the author of The Military Advantage (Simon & Schuster 2006, Naval Institute Press 2009).

Chris serves as a Director of Dale Carnegie, Ventana, and Alliance Health Corporations. He is also a Governor on the USO World Board. He’s an advisor or investor in a variety of other companies including RepairPal, Powerset, Lab Pixies, MD Drinks, GoodTree, Red Answers, Mighty DB, CR Reality, GoodReads, Lookery, OffBeat Guides, Pangea 3, Affinity Circles, Four Rivers, Play Megaphone, Wize, etc… In addition, he’s a Sector Advisor to Maveron LLC, a leading venture capital firm, and was recently appointed to the oversight committee for the Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS), one of six study divisions of the National Academies.

He’s also an accomplished amateur photojournalist. His photographs have been published in all kinds of media from magazines to books.

Chris earned his commission from the NROTC program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with high distinction and as the Distinguished Naval Graduate. In addition, he holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Milestones

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• Invested in RepairPal. (11/07)
  Posted 6/11/08 at 9:36pm
• Invested in Goodreads. (11/1/07)
  Posted 12/17/07 at 8:00am
• Added position as Founder at Affinity Labs.
  Posted 7/23/08 at 4:04am
• Added position as Founder at Military.com.
  Posted 7/23/08 at 4:04am
• Added position as Advisor at GoodTree.
  Posted 7/23/08 at 4:04am
• Added position as Advisor at RepairPal.
  Posted 7/23/08 at 4:04am

Videos

Investments

Sources

1. TechCrunch (techcrunch.com) [edit]
2. Citation Needed [add]