Mike Costache

Mike never liked being put in a box so he spent the last 20 years as an entrepreneur, investment banker, author, professor, motivational speaker, angel investor and fundraiser for various charities.

Currently, Mike serves as founding CEO of Chargeback Armor (credit card chargeback re-presentment & analytics platform) and TimeWare Solutions (smart home & office automation).

Since 2011, Mike is a member of Tech Coast Angels (TCA), a network of 300 angel investors who have invested $175 million in 300 deals and raised over $1.5 billion from VCs.

From 2006 to 2011, Mike was the President of Leo & Leo, which represented brands such as Maserati, Segway, NetJets, PrivatSea, Sunseeker Yachts, NetSuite, Marsh, Orgil Greenhouses, Miss Universe, and Rockstar Energy Drink. Total revenues amounted to €60 million.

From 2000 to 2006, Mike served as CEO of Pioneer TeleCare, an e-commerce firm with total revenues of $4 million. From 1998 to 2003, Mike was an Associate at WestPark Capital, The Interlink Group, Millennium Capital Partners, all Los Angeles-based investment banking firms.

Mike holds a degree in Economics (1999) from Pepperdine University (Malibu, California), a Certificate in Negotiations, Arbitration, and Mediation (2003) from Pepperdine’s School of Law and has completed the Program on Negotiations for Senior Executives (2008) at Harvard.

From 2003 to 2016, Mike served on the Board of Directors for Blue Heron Foundation where he helped raise $1.5 million for college and high school scholarships for 3,000 Romanian and Moldovan orphan and abandoned teenagers. Since early 2016, Mike serves on the Board of Directors for Make-A-Wish Foundation Romania.

Born in Bucharest in 1977, Mike migrated to Israel in 1988 and in 1992 to the United States. Mike is fluent in English, Hebrew, Romanian and has basic knowledge of French. Mike was in USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Inc., Entrepreneur, CCTV, Business Week, Men’s Health, Top Gear and numerous other media outlets.