Mike Townsend is a seasoned entrepreneur, advisor, and product ideation specialist with over a decade of experience in tech startups. He started his career as a design engineer at Brookstone and later worked as a mechanical engineer at Exelis designing radar systems for military grade UAVs. In 2012, he co-founded ZingCheckout, an iPad-based point of sale for SMBs, which was acquired by BigCommerce in 2015. Later, Mike started a fintech crypto podcast called Around The Coin that has hosted 225+ interviews with crypto and fintech founders.

In 2014, Mike moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles to start HomeHero, a marketplace for families to hire in-home care for seniors. Over the next four years, HomeHero raised $23M, provided over 1 million hours of care, and won a Webby Award and Forbes “30 Under 30”. In 2018, Mike led the sale of HomeHero to Almost Family home care CEO.

After selling HomeHero, Mike co-founded Redeeem.com, a crypto trading marketplace, which is now profitable and growing quickly. He has been a frequent speaker, panelist, and contributing writer at various tech events and publications, including Fortune, Forbes, CNBC, USA Today, Business Insider, and TechCrunch.

Mike is currently the Founder and CEO of Otter Labs, a startup that connects South American engineers with US-based startups. He is also an Ironman triathlete, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu enthusiast, and a husband and father. Mike is well-known for his expertise in product ideation, raising money, and team building. He has mentored and advised numerous early stage founders on Clarity, and has been an angel investor at various startups, including Mainvest, Mindbloom, and Lime.