Michael Lazerow

Michael Lazerow General Information

Description

Mr. Michael Lazerow is a Founder and Investor at Lazerow Ventures. He also is a Co-Founder and serves as a Partner and Member of the Investment Committee at Velvet Sea Ventures. He was a Board Member of MapAnything. He is a serial entrepreneur, investor, writer and painter best-known as the founder of Buddy Media, a social marketing software company that was purchased by Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) in 2012 for $800 million. He most recently served as Salesforce's chief strategy officer. During his three years at the company, Salesforce grew its annual revenue run rate to $6 billion from $2 billion and was named the most innovative company in the world by Forbes Magazine for three consecutive years. Prior to Salesforce and Buddy Media, he founded GOLF.com, purchased by Time Warner's Time division in January 2006. And as an undergraduate at Northwestern University, he started UWIRE, an Associated Press-like network of more than 850 student-run newspapers, purchased by CBS. With 65 early-stage investments, including Buzzfeed, Domo, Mashable and Dash Radio, he is one of the most prolific tech investors in New York City, where he spends much of his time cheerleading, providing therapy to and coaching entrepreneurs. He and his wife Kass are avid philanthropists through the Kass and Michael Lazerow Family Foundation. Their support and leadership of Cycle for Survival has helped raise more than $76.5 million for cancer research to fund 100+ clinical trials and research studies. Other interests include clean water (charity: water) and education (Donors Choose). He was the recipient of Ernest & Young's coveted Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2011 and Kass and Michael were given the Leader of the Future Award by the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute alongside legendary CEOs Alan Mulally (Ford, Boeing) and AG Lafley (Procter & Gamble). Additional honors include Fortune Magazine's 40 Under 40, Crain's New York 40 Under 40, Number 1 on the Silicon Alley 100 and the Ad Age Digital A-List. He earned a bachelors and masters degree in journalism from Northwestern. His writing about technology, advertising, startups, investing and life has appeared in Ad Age, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company and more than a dozen newspapers, including Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and the Miami Herald. He also serves as an Executive Chairman at Olympia Media Group.