Christopher Michel is a photographer, investor & entrepreneur. He is the founder of Affinity Labs and Military.com and currently runs Nautilus Ventures, a seed venture fund. In 1999, he founded Military.com, an online portal for servicemembers, veterans and their families. In 2006, Michel founded Affinity Labs, which runs a portfolio of online professional communities. Both companies were purchased by Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MNST).
Nautilus Ventures portfolio companies include Palantir, Peek, Alliance Health, Chegg, Ne Timeas, GoodReads, RepairPal, Health Gorilla, Honeybook, Ruby Ribbon, RelateIQ, Course Hero, Sparks, Nuzzle, Castlight Health, Tinker, Flour & Water, etc. Chris serves as a Director of Dale Carnegie, Kixeye, 3D Robotics, and Castlight Health (NYSE: CSLT). He previously served on the boards of International Data Group (IDG), Alliance Health and EZBoard as well as the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI), the USO, USS Arizona Memorial Fund, and the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation. He was also an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard Business School during the 2010-2011 school year.
Prior to his business career, Chris served as a Naval Flight Officer in the United States Navy. While on active duty, Michel flew as a Navigator, Tactical Coordinator and Mission Commander aboard the P-3C Orion aircraft. Following his operational tour, he worked in the Pentagon as Aide to the Chief of the Naval Reserve.
Chris serves on the oversight committee for the Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS), one of six study divisions of the National Academies. He is also an advisor to the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), the nation's oldest nonprofit investigative news organization.
In 2005, his book, The Military Advantage: A Comprehensive Guide to Your Military & Veterans Benefits, was published by Simon & Schuster. He is also one of three protagonists in Bill Murphy's book, The Intelligent Entrepreneur: How Three Harvard Business School Graduates Learned the 10 Rules of Successful Entrepreneurship, published by Henry Holt in 2010.
Chris is also a photographer. His collection includes photographs from unusual locations like Antarctica, Everest, Papua New Guinea, and at the edge of space (aboard a U-2 Spy Plane). His photographs can be found online at his gallery, ChristopherMichel. He has also published five fine art books, Monochromatic, Point 95, Roof of the World, Iceland, & Cuba Libre. A collection of his Burning Man photographs was published by ThreeStoneBooks. His work was most recently on display at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen. He’s also the editor of Explorers.com and a is a member of the Explorers Club.
Chris earned his commission from the NROTC program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was selected as the distinguished naval graduate. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Michel was named a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and serves as a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In addition, he holds an honorary Doctorate from Tiffin University.
