Michael is the Founding Partner of Redstone, a European venture capital firm focused on selected investment strategies. Over the last 20 years, he has established himself as a successful entrepreneur and investor in the startup ecosystem. He served as the Managing Partner of StudiVZ, Europe’s largest social media network at the time, which was sold to Holtzbrinck; was Founder & Managing Director of Rebate Networks, a global e-commerce holding company, which sold DailyDeal to Google, Ensogo to LivingSocial, and took iBuy public; and was the Founder & CEO of i2x, a speech analytics startup, which was sold to a private equity firm. As an angel investor, Michael has invested in more than 100 startups, including Atheneum Partners (exit to Guidepost Growth Equity), Kreditech (exit to Naspers), Lieferando (exit to Takeaway), Scoreloop (exit to BlackBerry), MrSpex (share sale pre-IPO), kaufDa (exit to Axel Springer), and Brands4Friends (exit to eBay). Michael began his career as an Analyst in the M&A department at Merrill Lynch and holds a Diploma in Business Administration from the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management.