Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Sherbakov.
Hi Mike, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
After serving five years on active duty as a United States Marine and graduating from San Diego State University, I dove head first into the world of startups. My first business was a wellness company and the second, a yoga towel company with a social impact spin, inspired by the book Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie (founder of TOMS).
Fast forward through helping launch a venture-backed startup and scaling another company to the public markets, I knew I wanted to support founders at scale and eventually come back to serve the military veteran community.
This passion led me to launch the San Diego chapter of Founder Institute, the largest early-stage startup accelerator in the world.
In addition to supporting founders through the rigorous program, it didn’t take long for me to realize that many of them needed capital to scale their great technology startups. This realization led to launching The Veteran Fund, a venture capital firm backing military veteran-led startups, alongside my great partners Ryan Micheletti, Justin Nahama, and Lisa Song Sutton.
In addition to my role as CEO at Greatness Ventures, I’m honored to serve as Managing Director of Founder Institute San Diego and General Partner at The Veteran Fund.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
If by smooth you mean winding, steep, and rocky… yes! I am certainly grateful to look back and see how all the dots connect though, with that bumpy road leading me to where I am today.
The biggest struggles were the seeming “failures” at the time. From needing to shut down a business overnight because funding didn’t come through to having tough conversations letting go of team members, the real challenge was to not take these events personally.
Now as I work with founders on a daily basis, I draw upon these experiences and empathize with the obstacles they often encounter at different stages of their startup journey.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Greatness Ventures?
Greatness Ventures is a business accelerator supporting impact-driven leaders and brands.
We specialize in launching, scaling, and funding great startups.
To get a bit more specific, we help launch great companies through our partnership with Founder Institute, the largest early stage accelerator in the world.
We help scale and fund great companies through our mentor network and investor partners like The Veteran Fund.
What sets us apart is also what I’m most proud of as the GREATNESS brand… our COMMUNITY and IMPACT. We don’t just say these words but we live them, as we continue to lead impact projects (primarily house builds in Mexico) available for our community to join since 2015.
I want readers to know that whether you’re a founder with a great idea, a great startup looking for funding, or an impact investor looking for deals… the Greatness Ventures community is waiting for you with open arms.
Let’s DO GREAT THINGS together!
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Growing up in the Bay Area and coming to San Diego as a child for vacation, repeatedly riding my boogie board all the way to the sand until the sun went down. I knew, even as a young child, that I would call San Diego home one day. Here I am, 15 years later, even more in love with this city than ever.
Contact Info:
- Email: team@greatnessventures.com
- Website: www.GreatnessVentures.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/greatnessventures
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/greatnessventures
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/greatnessdotvc
- Other: www.GREATNESS.vc
