Mike Millard

Mike loves innovation, entrepreneurs, and learning! He combined all three with the help of his co-founder, Audrey, into Pitch-a-Kid. It helps entrepreneurs refine their pitches and helps kids develop critical thinking skills by evaluating pitches. Through this simple interaction, he believes both the entrepreneurs and kids will learn from one another. And maybe will inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs in the process.

For nearly 20 years, Mike worked in a variety of roles ranging from innovation to venture capital to technology commercialization. He reviewed hundreds of pitches and understands the value of clear communication. His stops included Western Digital (enterprise disk drives), Dell (servers and storage), HP (Linux), AT&T Knowledge Ventures (Tech Commercialization), Austin Ventures (PE and VC investing) and most recently Ascension/Seton in an innovation role applying everything he learned in tech to healthcare. Mike has an MBA from Western Illinois University and a BS in Marketing and Business Administration from Illinois State University.

On a personal note, Mike is a dad and does dad stuff like uber his daughter to school and skating practice, check homework, and take naps on the couch. He is known to wear a Monster High backpack throughout the week while vacationing in Chicago. He could watch live tennis all day long, enjoys listening to U2, and has trouble seeing the full spectrum of colors.

[Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.]