Michael Casella

Managing Director, Partnership Capital Ventures

Michael Casella is the founder and managing director of Partnership Capital Ventures, focused on early-stage startups investments and actively guiding and mentoring founders. Michael was a member of the early founding team and SVP of Operations at Green Dot Corporation, a Sequoia-backed company.  At Green Dot, Michael had the unique advantage of actively contributing to the company’s growth from private company to public company (Startup -> Seed -> Series priced rounds -> pre-IPO -> IPO -> Post-IPO) where it achieved a $4B+ valuation (NYSE: GDOT).  Each of these phases required a unique set of experience and skill sets, including diversifying revenue by pivoting into new channels, introducing new product offerings, and via multiple acquisitions, all while consistently re-engineering processes, improving the customer experience  and expanding gross margin which makes his viewpoints uniquely helpful to founders.

Michael is a solutions-focused founder and senior executive with more than 22 years of success across the management consulting, retail, e-commerce, financial services, and technology industries. (B2C, B2B and B2B2C)   He also serves on the Board of Directors for PetMio, Qoins Technologies and Waverly Labs.

Michael earned a B.A. in International Business from U.C. Berkeley.  He also holds a Certification in High-Performance Coaching from the High-Performance Institute.   Michael has a passion for contributing to and helping others by sharing his time, knowledge and resources, both professionally and privately.

Content & Articles by Michael Casella

The 10 Security Gaps That Plague Startups Before Their A Round

A NOTE ON SEVERITY Not every item on this list carries the same level of risk. Some are the kind of finding that stops a deal. Others are serious but...

Community-Led Growth for Startups: Why Most Communities Fail and How to Build One That Actually Works

In our recent Mucker Growth Series session, I invited Sam Jacobs — founder and CEO of Pavilion — to talk about community-led growth: what it actually means, why most communities...

Pricing Models & Monetization Systems for Startup Success

In our recent Mucker Growth Series webinar session, we invited Jeffrey Tjiok and Jack Benson from Simon-Kucher to break down how startups can build pricing into their DNA from day...

Pitch Decks That Actually Raise Money: An Extreme Makeover Guide

Welcome to another recap from our Growth Series webinars, a series of sessions where we go deep into topics that help drive startup growth. In this session, we invited back...

Stop Hiding Behind Your Screen: In-Person Events Are How You Win in 2026

2026 is shaping up to be the year businesses rediscover the power of shaking hands, clinking glasses, and actually meeting their prospects in person. Don’t take my word for it...

Build Alignment Before You Burn Out

Everything Feels Urgent At early-stage companies, everything feels urgent: shipping product, closing customers, raising money. In that environment, planning can feel like a luxury, or even a liability. In my...

Scroll to Top

Submit Your Company