About
Serial founder, early-stage investor, speaker, and NYT…
Articles by Michael
Activity
130K followers
-
Michael Lazerow shared thisLeadership isn't choosing sides. Product wants to build the roadmap. Sales needs a feature to close a deal. Both are right. And that's the problem. Without clear priorities, the leader becomes the tiebreaker. When that happens, it often looks like they're playing favorites. One side wins, the other loses, and resentment inevitably builds. The fix is simple: rank your priorities before the conflict happens. Clear priorities turn leadership decisions into math problems. At Buddy Media, we made customer acquisition #1. Product was #2. Both mattered. But when they collided, we already knew the answer. When sales needed something to close a deal, we built it. Getting new customers on board was our top priority that quarter. The product team understood the ranking. The decision followed the system, not my gut. Everyone knows the rules. Nobody feels like you're choosing sides. What's your tiebreaker?
-
Michael Lazerow shared thisI want to open a pizza place. Kass hasn't agreed to it yet. Not because I'm leaving tech. Because the math is beautiful. $250K to launch in NYC. A million in revenue at 30% margins. Money back in year one. No venture capital. No pitch decks. No waiting for product-market fit. Just a big market and a product everyone already wants. First pizza party for your office? Free. That free slice builds loyalty. You don't need to reinvent the world to build a great business. You need: → A large market. → A product people already want. → A clear way to reach them. What's the simplest business you've ever seen that just works?
-
Michael Lazerow shared this"Do the job you have and the one you want." Kass repeated this mantra constantly at Buddy Media. Employees would come to her wanting a promotion. More responsibility. A bigger title. She understood the ambition. But wanting it isn't enough. There was something she told every one of them. A simple framework that separated the people who got promoted from the ones who kept asking. This week's newsletter breaks down what Kass saw in every employee who actually moved up. 👇 Tap below to read the full story and how to actually earn your next role.
-
Michael Lazerow shared thisThe most qualified person rarely wins. I had dinner with Ryan Serhant recently. I didn't know much about him before we sat down. After? I went down a rabbit hole. This guy built one of the biggest real estate brands in New York. Not because he had the most experience. Not because he knew the market better than anyone. He was an actor. An entertainer. He knew how to command a room before he ever sold a house. Think about it: water, fashion, entertainment, real estate. Pick any industry. The pattern is the same. The people who win are the ones who get known. You can be the best at what you do. But if nobody knows you exist, you're invisible. And invisible doesn't close deals. If you're running a business, ask yourself: How are you telling your story? How are you getting out there? The future belongs to founders who master getting attention. Ryan figured that out years ago. Most people are still waiting to be discovered. How are you making your business known?
-
Michael Lazerow shared thisFounder dads, you don't need more time. You need better time. I wasn't around as much as I wanted to be when my kids were young. Building companies meant long hours, travel, and being tired when I got home. We barely knew the names of our kids' teachers. That's the honest truth. But here's what I learned: Kids don't remember quantity. They remember moments. Saturday pancakes became sacred. When they were young, we explored the city together. Ferry rides. The Highline. Kids' concerts. As they got older, it was batting cages and hitting golf balls on Randall's Island. The key was becoming interested in what they were interested in. → They're reading Harry Potter? You're reading Harry Potter. → They want to hit baseballs? You're at the cage. → They love Taylor Swift? You're listening to it in the car. On vacation, do what the kids want to do. Not what you want. That's when bonds form. Your kids won't look back and count hours. They'll remember the moments you invested in their world, not yours. What's one ritual with your kids that's become sacred?
-
Michael Lazerow reposted thisMichael Lazerow reposted thisSHOVELING $HIT !! Couldn’t be further from it .. great holiday read sat by the pool chilling. As a business with a new venture ask yourself ? Product > what are you selling ? Differentiation > Why is it better than existing options? Customer > who will buy it , and how many potential customers exist (market size) ? Sales & marketing > How will customers find out about your product ? Delivery > How will you get it to customers ? Financial model > Does the financial model pass the smell test ? Simple questions that can save a lot of time and resource in the long run !! Learn from those who have been through it and made the mistakes along the way . So you don’t make the same ones !! Great book 📖 Michael Lazerow Kass Lazerow #shovelingshit #business #startup
-
Michael Lazerow shared thisI didn't become an entrepreneur to build a billion dollar company. I got into it for freedom. The ability to control my own destiny. When I started my first internet company at 19, there were only 13 million people online. No commercial browser. Yahoo was organizing the web with humans. There was no playbook. No guarantee it would work. But it felt like it was going to be big. So I started. U-Wire merged with Student Advantage and went public. → Then came Golf.com. → Then Buddy Media. → Then investing in other founders. Once I started, I never stopped. The idea of retiring terrifies most entrepreneurs I know. Building is our identity. It's our purpose. It's how we process the world. It's who we are. Some people golf to relax. Some people travel. Entrepreneurs build. We don't do it for the exit. We do it because we can't imagine doing anything else. What keeps you building?
-
Michael Lazerow shared thisIf you can't handle rejection, you can't run a company. Founders don't get rejected sometimes. They get rejected constantly. Pitches that go nowhere. Customers who vanish mid-conversation. Hires who say no after three rounds of interviews. Partners who back out at the last minute. Press that doesn't care about your launch. This is the reality of the work. Founders rarely get constant external validation. No one is there to confirm you're on the right track. You show up, pitch your vision, hear no, and do it again tomorrow. You send the follow-up email knowing it probably won't get a response. You make the call anyway. Rejection tolerance is a job requirement. It took us three business models at Buddy Media to get it right. Each pivot started with the market telling us no. Not once. Repeatedly. The founders who last stopped needing permission to keep going. They aren't tougher or more talented. If you need every room to believe in you before you believe in yourself, this work will break you. Who are you still waiting to hear "yes" from?
-
Michael Lazerow shared thisLikes on social media are a trap. Founders keep falling for it. Every platform optimizes for external validation. → More likes. → More comments. → More followers. The dopamine hit of strangers approving of you. Great founders are wired differently. They're driven by something internal, a fire that doesn't need applause to keep burning. But even the most internally motivated founders can get pulled into the validation game. You start posting about your wins. You check the likes. You wonder why that post didn't perform. You start optimizing for engagement instead of impact. The founders who win aren't chasing validation. They're building relationships that last. Your employees liking you matters more than a hundred likes on a post. Your customers trusting you matters more than going viral. Tune in to what really matters. The relationships you're building while everyone else is refreshing their notifications. What are you optimizing for?
Experience & Education
-
Velvet Sea Ventures
View Michael’s full experience
See their title, tenure and more.
or
Publications
-
The Dreamer’s Dilemma: Prevent Your Dreams from Turning into Nightmares
LinkedIn
See publicationIf you think your dream should come true and you’re not violating any rules of physics (or basic human ethics), go for it. Tune out the critics. Or better yet, turn those critics into the electric power to fuel your dreams, as Elon did.
-
When is it OK to bash a founder?
LinkedIn
See publicationSo why is it that some of my fellow entrepreneurs have no problem publicly attacking other business builders?
-
Why Weirdos Outperform Normals
LinkedIn
See publicationWe should teach our kids to be weird. Instead of trying to get our kids to fit in, we should help them celebrate why they are different.
-
Twitter's Ads API is Here: So What and Now What?
Ad Age
See publicationTwitter's ad APIs are a natural progression for the company. And, quite frankly, I expected it to come a bit sooner. Nonetheless, this is a game changer for brands who need the power to pull off real-time engagement that turns tweets and posts into memorable content.
-
Facebook Graph Search Is Here. What Do Marketers Need to Know?
Ad Age
See publicationWhile Zuck did not focus on brands, it's clear where Facebook is going with its search strategy. And businesses large and small will be one of the primary beneficiaries.
-
The Truth About Facebook Advertising
Fast Company
See publicationOur aggregate, quantifiable numbers, as well as knowledge of our brands' ad spend, show the speed at which brand advertisers are investing into Facebook. Companies that spent $1 million last year are spending $5 million this year. Companies that spent $10 million last year are upping spend to $25 million or more.
-
Social Media Advertising Is Set to Explode. Who Will Control It?
Ad Age
See publicationIn a world where the content is the ad and the ad is the content, the barriers between the different types of agencies go away, and all are frothing at all the new and growing revenue streams.
Honors & Awards
-
Leader of the Future Award
Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute
-
#1: Silicon Alley 100
Business Insider
-
Ad Age Digital A-List
Ad Age Magazine
-
Crain's New York 40 Under 40
Crain's New York Business
-
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Ernst & Young
-
Fortune Magazine 40 Under 40
Fortune Magazine
Recommendations received
15 people have recommended Michael
Join now to viewOther similar profiles
Explore more posts
-
Kit Yu
With the sustained user expansion of Soda Music and the marginal weakness of Cloud Music's MAU trend in late 2025, the market now recognizes that the music streaming market is no longer a duopoly without competition. Going into 2026, we expect the competition in the low-end market to continue, no meaningful subsiding or intensifying (Douyin will continue to divert traffic to Soda, but will not change the long-term strategy for Soda as the music version on Douyin and will not increase content investment massively).
-
Augustin Sayer
Thrilled for OVNI Capital to be backing RIFT in a pre-seed round led by AlleyCorp (Luc Ryan-Schreiber). Rift is building the first real-time aerial intelligence network, a new layer of infrastructure for persistent, on-demand visibility where it matters most. This funding will scale production of their autonomous stations, accelerate deployment in high-stakes environments, and expand the team leading the next phase. 🗞️ Explore the full story: - StartupMafia: https://lnkd.in/dARrg25N - BFM Business (FR): https://lnkd.in/eADSUsn7 - Les Échos (FR): https://lnkd.in/eFG3zAy5 👨🚀 Join the mission → https://lnkd.in/erm_SrTG
2 Comments -
Jeff Perry
Seth Levine nailed it! The concentration problem isn't just a GP pain point... it's choking innovation. When capital pools around the same 20 funds, emerging managers and founders get shut out. Love that he's using his platform to call this out. Foundry has backed 50+ emerging managers. That's the diversification the ecosystem needs. This is exactly why Carta exists — making capital allocation visible and accessible. Capital Evolution hits at exactly the right moment. Thanks for having us Daniel Dart. Team Carta loves the community of FUTURE TITANS you have built 🚀
6 Comments -
Christopher (Toph) Day
In this episode of Innovate or Evaporate, I sit down with Mike Clem, CEO of Sweetwater, a nearly $2B music tech powerhouse that still thinks like a startup. 𝗪𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸: • What “founder mode” looks like at scale • Why they don’t obsess over competitors • How 1,000 small improvements beat one big moonshot • And why human relationships, not just AI, are their real moat Sweetwater wins by giving away more value. Period. If you care about scaling culture, protecting what makes your company special, and building for the long game, this one’s for you. 📺 https://lnkd.in/g4nv5_Gv
3 Comments
Explore top content on LinkedIn
Find curated posts and insights for relevant topics all in one place.
View top content