Christopher Michel
Encyclopedia
Affinity Labs
Affinity Labs is a company that builds social networking sites for niche groups such as firefighters, police officers, nurses and the Armed Forces. In January 2008, Affinity Labs was acquired by Monster Worldwide for US$61 million....
and Military.com
Military.com
Military.com is the website created by Military Advantage to be a portal for U.S. military members. In early 2004, Military Advantage was purchased by Monster Worldwide. The company's main revenue streams are advertising, military-themed products and lead generation for military recruiters...
and currently runs Nautilus Ventures, a seed venture fund. In 1999, he founded Military.com
Military.com
Military.com is the website created by Military Advantage to be a portal for U.S. military members. In early 2004, Military Advantage was purchased by Monster Worldwide. The company's main revenue streams are advertising, military-themed products and lead generation for military recruiters...
, an online portal for servicemembers, veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
s and their families. In 2006, Michel founded Affinity Labs
Affinity Labs
Affinity Labs is a company that builds social networking sites for niche groups such as firefighters, police officers, nurses and the Armed Forces. In January 2008, Affinity Labs was acquired by Monster Worldwide for US$61 million....
, which runs a portfolio of online professional communities. The first, launched in March 2007, was PoliceLink.com. Both Military.com and Affinity Labs were purchased by Monster Worldwide.
Nautilus Ventures portfolio companies include Palantir, Alliance Health, Verbify, BranchOut, Ne Timeas, HealthCPA, GoodReads, Bespoke Innovations, Course Hero, CR Reality, Pangea 3, RelateIQ, Flour & Water, Park Tavern, etc. Michel serves as a Director of International Data Group, Dale Carnegie
Dale Carnegie
Dale Breckenridge Carnegie was an American writer, lecturer, and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills...
, Kixeye and Castlight Health. He is also a Governor on the USO World Board and a Trustee of the Marine Corps University Foundation. He previously served on the boards of the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI), the USS Arizona Memorial Fund, and the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation. He was also an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard Business School during the 2010-2011 school year.
Prior to his business career, Michel served as a Naval Flight Officer in the United States Navy. While on active duty, Michel flew as a Navigator, Tactical Coordinator and Mission Commander aboard the P-3C Orion aircraft. Following his operational tour, he worked in the Pentagon as Aide to the Chief of the Naval Reserve.
Michel serves on the oversight committee for the Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS), one of six study divisions of the National Academies. He is also an advisor to the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), the nation's oldest nonprofit investigative news organization, and the Oxford Internet Institute (oii) at the University of Oxford.
In 2005, Michel's The Military Advantage: A Comprehensive Guide to Your Military & Veterans Benefits was published by Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
. He is also one of three protagonists in Bill Murphy's book, The Intelligent Entrepreneur: How Three Harvard Business School Graduates Learned the 10 Rules of Successful Entrepreneurship, published by Henry Holt in 2010. In addition, he was a longtime columnist in Proceedings magazine.
Michel is also a photographer. His collection includes photographs from unusual locations like Antarctica, Everest, Papua New Guinea, and at the edge of space (aboard a U-2 Spy Plane). His photographs can be found online at his gallery, ChristopherMichel. He has also published four fine art books, Monochromatic, Rajasthan, Point 95 and Roof of the World. A collection of his Burning Man photographs was also published by ThreeStoneBooks. His work was most recently on display at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen. He's also the editor at Explorers, a site dedicated to adventure travel.
Michel earned his commission from the NROTC program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was selected as the distinguished naval graduate. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
. Michel was named a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute
Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1950 as the Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies. The organization is dedicated to "fostering enlightened leadership, the appreciation of timeless ideas and values, and open-minded dialogue on contemporary issues." The...
and serves as a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
.