Mike Townsend
Founder & CEO, Otter Labs
Mike is the founder of 4 startups (sold 3), has raised $24M VC, and has coached and invested in dozens of early-stage startups.
Currently, Mike leads the team at Otter Labs, a platform to help startups hire full-time developers from South America.
In 2015, Mike was named to Forbes “30 Under 30” list. He has appeared in Fortune, Forbes, CNBC, USA Today, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, and L.A. Biz. Mike is a contributing writer at TechCrunch and actively speaks at healthcare and technology events worldwide.
He also hosts the Around The Coin podcast (www.aroundthecoin.com) with 350+ episodes in crypto, payments, and marketplaces.
Mike spent 10 years competing in Ironman triathlons. Now he trains daily in No-Gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He is lucky to have an amazing wife and a young son.
Twitter: twitter.com/mikettownsend
Content & Articles by Mike Townsend
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) for Early Stage Companies
In our latest session from the Mucker Growth Series featuring Ethan Smith from Graphite, we explored AEO, a significant new approach for optimizing visibility in AI-driven search, particularly relevant as...
Startup Guide to AI Visibility: Be the Brand ChatGPT Recommends
Introduction Today, users aren’t just searching on Google. They’re asking ChatGPT, Claude, Google’s Gemini, Perplexity, and other AI systems for advice. AI visibility is the new frontier of brand awareness....
Practical Uses of AI & Automation for Startup Operations
In a recent Mucker Growth Series session, we invited Rock Vitale, Founder & CEO of Easie, to share how he’s helped early-stage teams move from manual, fragmented workflows to streamlined,...
2025 New York Tech Week Recap Of Mucker Sessions
Last week during New York Tech Week 2025, we joined more than 1,000 events hosted by founders, investors, and VCs. This post is a full Mucker recap of the three...
How to Build a Customer Support Function for Startups Using AI Tools with Alex Velinov
Delivering high-quality customer support can be one of the most resource-draining parts of a startup. The good news: we’re at a turning point where founders can use AI tools to...
Zero → 100: The Exact Steps We Took to Close Our First 100 Paying Customers
Going from zero customers to 100 in just four months sounds impossible—unless you’re a founder willing to roll up your sleeves and hustle relentlessly. I’m Gaurav Bhattacharya, co-founder of Jeeva.ai,...