About.
The full story

Intro

Mike Dershowitz is a business orchestrator, entrepreneur, and advisor whose career has been defined by his ability to build, scale, and turn around companies. From outsourcing and healthcare to aviation, real estate, and clean energy, Mike brings a cross-industry lens to solving problems and unlocking growth.

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Early Career: Building Foundations

Mike’s professional career began in operations and technology, where he gained a strong grounding in execution and systems thinking. At McMaster-Carr, he learned the discipline of logistics and process-driven operations. His subsequent roles at Lexient and Synygy deepened his exposure to software and product development, while his time at JPMorgan Chase placed him in the middle of large-scale digital transformation efforts. These experiences provided the technical, operational, and leadership toolkit that would fuel his entrepreneurial path.

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First Ventures: MODsolar and Clean Energy Software

In 2011, Mike founded MODsolar, a platform that streamlined how solar companies generated proposals. The software quickly gained adoption, producing more than 1,500 proposals per week at its peak and attracting enterprise clients like SunEdison, Enphase, and GAF. MODsolar showcased Mike’s instinct for identifying inefficiencies and designing scalable solutions — skills that would define his later work as a business orchestrator.

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Fair Trade Outsourcing: From Startup to Global Player

Mike’s most recognized venture is Fair Trade Outsourcing (FTO), launched in 2015. FTO has grown from a small startup into an international BPO with delivery centers across the Philippines, Ghana, Jamaica, and the U.S. While its social mission — creating dignified jobs — remains central, FTO’s success reflects Mike’s ability to blend impact with execution. He introduced new operating models, opened international sites, and scaled the workforce into the thousands, establishing FTO as a resilient mid-market outsourcing partner.

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Orchestrating in Crisis: 15toKnow

In 2020, Mike co-founded 15toKnow, a healthcare services company created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With speed and precision, 15toKnow launched drive-through testing and vaccination sites across three states, serving more than 500,000 patients at its peak. The venture demonstrated Mike’s ability to mobilize resources quickly, create operational structures under pressure, and manage businesses in volatile environments.

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Diversified Portfolio: IT, Healthcare, Aviation, Real Estate

Mike has also applied his orchestrator role across diverse ventures. At LumiQualis, he guided the creation of a nearshore IT delivery center in Medellín, Colombia. Through Ponderosa Medical Billing, he invested in and advised a healthcare revenue cycle firm, improving client acquisition and operational performance. He founded MSD Aviation, a private aviation services company overseeing fleet management and operations, and developed Winding Waters Estate, a luxury property for private and corporate retreats. These ventures reflect Mike’s ability to adapt business orchestration principles — alignment of people, processes, and capital — across very different sectors.

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Business Orchestrator: The Core Identity

What ties these experiences together is Mike’s role as a business orchestrator. He doesn’t just found or invest in companies — he integrates moving parts into a cohesive whole. Whether launching a new venture, stabilizing a struggling company, or scaling an established one, Mike brings structure to complexity. He focuses on three imperatives: 1) Clarity of strategy, 2) Operational alignment, and 3) Leadership accountability.

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Thought Leadership and Speaking

Mike regularly shares his perspective through keynotes, masterclasses, and writing. He has spoken on outsourcing, scaling strategies, and the challenges of impact-oriented businesses in competitive markets. His CEO Masterclass series at FTO distills lessons for mid-market leaders navigating outsourcing and business transformation. His writing, including essays on Medium, blends practical insights with a clear-eyed view of how entrepreneurship can serve both owners and communities.

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Investor and Mentor

As an angel investor and advisor, Mike now applies his orchestrator mindset to help entrepreneurs move from concept to traction, or from stagnation to turnaround. He works with founders to refine business models, raise performance, and create structures that support sustainable growth.

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Education and Personal Background

Mike earned his BA in International Relations from The George Washington University, giving him a broad global perspective. Over the course of his career, he has lived and worked across multiple geographies, shaping his belief that business solutions must adapt to both local realities and global opportunities. He speaks 4 languages: English, French, Spanish & German.

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Philosophy

Mike believes that entrepreneurship is ultimately an act of orchestration: the art of bringing together people, capital, and systems to create something larger than the sum of its parts. While social ventures remain an important through-line in his career, his focus today is on helping businesses — whether his own or those of fellow entrepreneurs — find clarity, regain momentum, and achieve scale.