Who We Are

We are founders, investors, directors, and advisors. We are curious, passionate, and life-long learners. We believe startups are the best way to creatively solve challenges faced by many businesses and individuals. Instead of waiting for someone else to solve these challenges, we’ve decided to lead the way.

Prior to launching MVC, we’d already spent a combined 50+ years in the venture community co-founding 30+ startups, investing in 120+ companies, and being a part of 20+ IPOs. We are leveraging this experience and network to bring best practices to business building. Our Minimum Viable Company framework incorporates these learnings and guides our decision making. We only build companies we’d run ourselves.

  • Matt | Director

    Matt leads MVC’s operations and strategy, working closely with entrepreneurs, corporations, investors, and partners to launch advantaged startups. Prior to MVC, Matt spent 10+ years working on M&A transactions across industries and scale at 3M Corporation, TripleTree, and Cherry Tree & Associates.

  • Luke | Operating Partner

    Luke participates in all stages of the venture building process at MVC, aiding in the evaluation and launch of new startups. He is also the co-founder and CEO of Marco Sweets & Spices, a purveyor of internationally-inspired ice cream sold in 2,000 retail outlets. Prior to Marco, Luke advised corporations and investors in the food and consumer industries at Lazard and William Blair. Luke earned his MBA from Columbia Business School with a focus on entrepreneurship.

  • Cole | Operating Partner

    Cole evaluates and advises on new ventures, with a focus on healthcare opportunities. His experience as founder and CEO of NorthStar RCM, an advisory firm that partners with healthcare organizations to improve revenue cycle performance, is key to guiding opportunities through the venture building process. His healthcare experience is broad, having worked across providers, consulting firms, and software vendors of all sizes.

  • Tony Christianson

    Tony | Chairman

    Tony co-founded MVC Studio and leverages his 40+ years of venture experience to guide operations and strategy. He has been active in 400+ transactions, including financings, mergers and acquisitions, and public offerings. He has been on 50+ boards of directors of both middle market companies and larger public and private companies. He co-founded Cherry Tree & Associates, and currently serves as Chairman.