Aaron Michel

Partner at 1984 Ventures Management, Llc

San Francisco, California

Writes $500K – $1M checks · typically $750K

About

Aaron Michel, with dual Harvard degrees who built and exited PathSource, acts as a founder therapist available at 2 a.m., targeting unsexy industries and using live customer validation.

LinkedIn ↗X / Twitter ↗

Invests in

AI & Machine LearningDeveloper ToolsHealthtechMarketplacesSaaS

Experience

One ZymeCo-Founder and CEOcurrent2025 — presentUnited States
UCSF Digital Health Boost ProgramAdvisorcurrent2020 — present
Head Judge for HBS New Venture Competition and Mentor at Various AcceleratorsMentor and Startup Competition Judge2018 — 2025
1984 VenturesOn Leave To Explore Ideas2024 — 2025
1984 VenturesPartner2017 — 2024San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Workforce Investment BoardBoard of Directors (Executive Committee Member)2018 — 2021San Francisco
Art in ActionBoard Member2018 — 2019San Francisco Bay Area
Lifehack.orgColumnist2016 — 2017
PathSourceCEO2012 — 2017San Francisco
AcademixDirect, Inc.Executive Vice President2017Menlo Park
Fantasy PoliticsCo-Founder2010 — 2012San Francisco
Serious MaterialsProduct Manager2008 — 2009

Education

Harvard Business SchoolMBA, Business Leadership2005 — 2008
Harvard UniversityMPA, Government2005 — 2008
Boston UniversityBA, Environmental Policy1999 — 2003

Skills & more

Start-ups96Entrepreneurship55Product Management22Strategic Partnerships20Product Marketing8Business Strategy12Marketing23Strategy28Competitive Analysis10Business Development13Product Development34SaaS8

+12 more

Marketing StrategyAnalyticsOnline AdvertisingSalesStrategic PlanningSocial Media MarketingGo-to-market StrategyNew Business DevelopmentLeadershipCross-functional Team LeadershipMarketing CommunicationsE-commerce

From Aaron's professional profile.