MICHAEL ISRAEL

A disruptive commodities trading hedge fund ($15M+ AUM) founded out of a University of Chicago dorm room, which uses alternative data to price financial products in both agricultural and energy markets.

• Identified and secured $5.5M investment from Mark Cuban.
• Raised capital for the fund and served as the primary point of contact for investors.

Stepped out of the familiar digital product world and entered the complex and challenging hardware product manufacturing/shipping space. Conceived, built, and led a consumer electronics company - from business case through launch - that created a first-in-kind pocket-sized and stylish Bluetooth speaker that delivered high-quality stereo sound. Selected, managed, and motivated a top-tier team of programmers, marketers, and manufacturing partners.

• Raised $ 1.2M in seed money from high-level investors (e.g. Mark Cuban, Redbadge, Ben Franklin Technology Partners) and $90K via Crowdfunding.
• Led digital marketing efforts for company's first direct-to-consumer product launch, achieving 104% month-over-month revenue growth post-launch.
• Increased sales by 134%, site traffic by 298% and achieved a 5.62% returning customer rate by securing product placement in videos with top tech influencers.
• Developed cross-channel micro-influencer marketing campaign that grew organic site traffic by 75.8%, added 3,598 new Instagram followers, and doubled user-generated content submissions.
• Produced viral launch trailer that compiled 600K+ views, 11.04% CTR and 38% conversion rate.

A blockchain-enabled streaming ecosystem that provides consumer-friendly access to Cryptocurrency ownership by rewarding users who stream media.

• Identified and secured $250K in investments from Mark Cuban.
• Advised company on digital strategy, capital acquisition, and product optimization.

Mark Cuban Companies (MCC), the portfolio business for celebrity entrepreneur, Mark Cuban, offers capital and business guidance to portfolio companies in a wide array of industries including retail, food and beverage, technology and healthcare.

• Reported to and worked directly with Mark Cuban to identify and invest in early-stage startups across a variety of industries.
• Researched, pitched, and executed early-stage startup investments totaling over $5.85M.
• Led due diligence efforts, negotiated deal structures with management teams, and determined startup financial model feasibility.

Led a company that created and marketed multiple highly-trafficked mobile games, such as Instakey and Celebrity Streetfight. Spearheaded digital marketing strategy within the coveted 18 to 24-year-old market. Formed partnerships with top digital influencers, served as their primary contact and created posting schedules/content/copy. Integral part of raising $2M+ from top angel investors and venture capital firms.

• Slashed product launch marketing costs by 90% by creating a unique compensation structure for top digital influencers (combined reach of 300M fans) that required no up-front payment (typically $25K/post min).
• Created and executed go-to-market strategy for the InstaKey App, which hit profitability and generated 60K unique downloads in the first 30 minutes.
• Achieved #1 grossing and top trending Apple App Store product, #1 Worldwide Twitter Trending Topic and over 2M shares on social media.
• Drove strategy & execution for Celebrity StreetFight, an action game app featuring top digital influencers, that generated 373K unique downloads and 1M+ sessions played in the first 48 hours. Achieved #1 in action games, #16 overall ranking in Apple App Store, and became a Top Trending Search on the iOS platform twice.

Left college to launch a company, with advisement from Mark Cuban, that developed a simple, no code needed platform that enabled anyone to create beautiful and functional mobile applications without hiring costly developers. Platform became the base technology behind Nativ, which yielded licensing deals with major companies and over 20K apps built.

• Reached $1.5M in revenue before seeking outside funding.
• Directed the go-to-market strategy for InstaLiker, which was a top 75 grossing app in the world generating over $20K per day at its peak.
• Led strategy and execution for the public launch for WakaVille, a mobile game for platinum recording artist Waka Flocka.

General Studies

Indiana University / Bloomington, IN / 2010 - 2012