Michael Lewis
Company: THESIS Education
Title: Co-founder, president
Age: 25
Hometown: Louisville
Resides (city or neighborhood): Lexington, Kentucky
Education history: Eastern HS, University of Kentucky (Finance/Accounting)
Hobbies: Guitar, church, investing, travel, tennis/golf, bourbon
Twitter/Instagram/other social media handle: Insta: michaellewis_05 ; Twitter: @michaellewis_05
Favorite tech gadget: Apple Watch
How did you get into the career you have today? When I was in high school, my school (Eastern High School) invested heavily in an awesome business program and recruited some top-tier business teachers. The business program at Eastern helped spark my interest in the world of finance/entrepreneurship/business. I dabbled in some startup projects in high school and went on to start two companies while attending college at the University of Kentucky: one failed and one sold to a strategic buyer. After trying my hand at investment banking, serving as the Head of Finance at Fooji Inc. (Lexington), and providing fractional CFO services at Venture First (Louisville), I co-founded Thesis Education. Thesis is an EdTech company providing interactive curriculum solutions for K-16 education. My entrepreneurial journey came full circle as the first solution Thesis launched was BusinessU – a high school business curriculum platform that exists to teach and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurial thinkers and business professionals... And full circle twice as JCPS is now a customer! Today, Thesis provides three EdTech solutions that serve thousands of schools/teachers and students around the country.
What’s one thing Louisville can do to improve its tech and/or startup ecosystem? Starting a company is easy, building a company is incredibly difficult and emotional. I feel the health of a startup ecosystem should not be judged based on the number of new startups each year, but rather by the support the ecosystem provides entrepreneurs along their intense journey of building a company. The more we can connect entrepreneurs to mentors, advisors, industry experts, capital, customers, and other fellow entrepreneurs, the better. We also need to do more to share and elevate entrepreneurial journeys and stories.
Who has been one of your top mentors? Why? While I have benefited from the advice and mentorship of many, one that has been the most influential and constant is my uncle and business partner, Graham Baughman. At a young age my father passed away, which forced my mom to play both roles and support our family on her own… she is a true hero in my eyes! As my interest in the world of business grew, I started asking Graham all kinds of detailed questions. Annoyingly, Graham usually would not answer the questions directly, but would instead answer with a long parable, which he then connected to a movie scene or quote, and then to a core life principle. While his answers required lots of stamina and focus (they still do to this day), I was a sponge and I appreciated the investment he was making in helping develop me not just as an entrepreneur, but as a person.
What’s your best piece of advice for companies and individuals looking to be more innovative and disruptive in their fields? In my mind, innovation and disruption are not so much a function of intelligence or creativity; rather, it is a function of your proximity to the customer. What pains your customer? What do they truly want? What is getting in their way? From there, use a first principles approach to solve their problem.
What accomplishment are you most proud of? Building a company is like pushing a heavy rock up a hill, a hill with an unknown summit (I stole that one from my mentor, Graham). In startup land, being in business tomorrow is an accomplishment in its own right. Many try, few succeed. I am proud and excited to help usher THESIS Education into its 4th year of serving our employees and customers around the country!
What innovative company (other than your own) do you admire and why? If I say "all of Elon Musk’s," is that cheating? Just kidding. I admire the work Lexington-based MiddleTech is doing to enhance the business/startup ecosystem through local media/content.
