Michael Burgmaier
Co-Founder and Managing Director
Michael Burgmaier is a Co-Founder and Managing Director with Whipstitch Capital. After an early career in government and public policy, he completed an MBA program in 2001 and joined Bain & Company, Inc. in 2001 as a management consultant working on growth strategy for Fortune 500 businesses. In 2004, Mike joined an early-stage venture capital firm and helped lead five consumer deals in categories such as natural/organic food, personal care and performance apparel. Recognized for this leadership in these areas, he was named as a “40 Under 40” leader in the Natural Products Industry by the Natural Foods Merchandiser in 2008. A year later, he partnered with Nick McCoy to lead the consumer practice at a boutique investment bank to focus on the better-for-you/premium consumer space. In 2015, Mike and Nick went off on their own to form Whipstitch Capital, with the goal of creating the industry’s leading investment bank exclusively focused on the best consumer businesses in the healthy living industry.
Mike lives in Yarmouth, Maine with his enthusiastically supportive partner Rachel, where he works out of his product-jammed office. He is an enthusiastic guitar player (the wall of guitars and amps in many rooms is a real thing), huge Foo Fighters fan (some would say Dave Grohl fanatic – Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2021!), avid bike rider (in his basement), former runner (those knees…), gym-goer, T-shirt wearer and semi-health food nut. On summer and fall weekends he relives his high school glory days by playing third base for the New York Giants in a 45+ wooden bat men’s baseball league in Maine. Three children and a dog also add to the awesomeness (some say chaos).
Mike holds FINRA Series 7, 24, 63 and 79 licenses, an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, a MPP from Duke University, and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Boston College.
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Why it’s personal with Mike
“In 2005, I did my first natural products deal as a VC. Over the next few years, I became one of the most active “healthy living” investors in the US, leading several deals in food, personal care, and performance apparel. Previously, at Bain & Company, I worked on growth strategy with large Fortune 500 clients. But after Bain, I found working directly with risk-taking founders hit my own entrepreneurial bug. This was exciting and fun – working with people giving it their all to create products I consumed and used.
A few years later, in 2008, I took this drive to investment banking, partnering with Nick McCoy. We worked hard, learned a lot, and had some big wins. In 2015 we took our own leap and started Whipstitch Capital. In the beginning it was just the two of us, but now we are the largest independent investment bank in the US in our space. We had a vision: To be different, to be the best, to create a team and foster a culture that treated every client and every deal with respect and attention. We don’t win for Whipstitch; we win for our clients and our industry. I still love every day. For me, this work and this company has always been personal. And it always will be.”