Michael Staton

Michael is has an MA and a BA from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his studies focused on economic development, poverty alleviation, and sustainable market growth. He served in many capacities within student governance, culminating as President and commencement speaker.

Michael Staton is a Partner at LearnCapital in San Mateo, California. Michael acts as a brand evangelist, manages deal flow, sits on the Investment Committee with two Managing Partners, and is responsible for new Limited Partner relationships. He has helped lead investments into Coursera, Minerva, AltSchool, Andela, CreativeLIVE, and BrightBytes. Fittingly, he began his decade-long entrepreneurial journey in the classroom, teaching social studies to high school students in Houston, TX. 

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As an individual angel investor, Michael supports companies serving an important goal or mission outside of the mandate or interest of LearnCapital. These include Clever, Sano, Plethora, Bison, HipCamp, Bequest, BRCK, Binti, MakersRow, and Standard Cyborg. 

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Prior to joining LearnCapital, Michael conspired with founders and advised and worked with early teams that went on to become leaders in their respective markets, including Dev Bootcamp, UnCollege, Quizlet, Degreed, and Goalbook. He served as a Venture Partner and Community Advisor to NewSchools Venture Fund's Seed Fund, which has now spun out as Reach Capital. 

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Michael is the founder and former CEO of Uversity, a venture-backed company that pioneered the use of social enrollment management technology in higher education. He was declared a top-100 innovator by the Chronicle of Higher Education, and currently serves on the advisory board of SXSWedu and the Higher Education Working Group of the American Enterprise Institute.

Michael served his fellowship at LearnCapital under the mentorship of founder and Managing Partner Rob Hutter; he is a member of Class 20.