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About

Mike’s Story

Mike Fisher is the CEO of MyFitnessPal, the world's leading nutrition and food tracking mobile app, trusted by over 200 million users globally. Previously, Mike was the CTO at Etsy, where he played a key role in scaling the marketplace's annual sales from $3 billion to over $13 billion. Prior to Etsy, he co-founded AKF Partners, a consultancy that specializes in scaling companies, and served as the CTO of Quigo, which was acquired by AOL. He also led engineering and architecture at PayPal. Mike’s leadership experience is further enriched by nearly a decade of military service as an Aviation Officer on active duty and in the Ohio National Guard.

Mike holds a PhD and MBA from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management, an MS in Information Systems from Hawaii-Pacific University, and a BS in Computer Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has also contributed to academia as an Adjunct Professor in Weatherhead’s Design & Innovation Department and served as an Executive-In-Residence at the Veale Institute of Entrepreneurship.

In addition to his professional responsibilities, Mike serves on the board of directors for the West Point Association of Graduates and the advisory boards for the Weatherhead MBA in Product Management and xLab. He is also a Fulbright Specialist. 

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Today, as CEO of MyFitnessPal, Mike brings those lessons to a mission with real human stakes. Helping people understand their health through clearer data and better tools is both an opportunity and a responsibility. It brings together the core themes of his career: building products that serve genuine human needs, designing organizations that can endure stress and change, and developing leaders who scale themselves as their teams and missions grow around them.

MyFitnessPal - CEO

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At Etsy, Mike helped guide the marketplace through a period of rapid growth, reinforcing the technical foundations, evolving the product organization, and cultivating a culture rooted in trust and creativity. That chapter reinforced a belief he had carried for years. Teams do their best work when they are genuinely empowered, when the mission is unmistakable, and when leaders focus on creating the conditions that allow people to deliver the strongest work of their careers.

Etsy - CTO

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At AKF Partners, Mike worked alongside more than 350 companies as they navigated the challenges of scaling. The work was deeply hands on. He helped leaders learn how to scale people, process, and technology together rather than treating them as separate problems. That experience sharpened his conviction that scaling is not about size or speed alone, but about building systems, habits, and leaders that can absorb complexity without breaking and grow stronger as demand increases.

AKF - Co-Founder

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Quigo - CTO

At Quigo, serving as CTO of a fast growing ad technology startup, Mike experienced hyper growth in its most demanding form. The platform scaled to deliver more than one billion ads each month across premium publisher websites, often while the business itself was evolving at full throttle. The success of scaling ultimately culminated in Quigo’s acquisition by AOL. Those years cemented his respect for scaling under real production pressure, where tradeoffs are unavoidable and learning happens fast.

PayPal logo with blue and dark blue text and symbol

At PayPal, Mike worked through a period of massive customer growth and rapid organizational expansion following the acquisition by eBay. Transaction volumes surged and reliability was paramount, even as teams, structures, and processes were being reshaped. That experience sharpened his understanding of how to scale while maintaining speed and earning the trust of customers who rely on the platform every day.

PayPal - VP of Engineering

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Early in his career at GE, he began as a software engineer, building and shipping real systems before moving into engineering management. GE’s leadership training became a finishing school after his time in the military, helping translate discipline and accountability into a business setting. That combination of hands on engineering work and formal leadership development shaped how he leads today, with equal respect for technical rigor, people, and process.

GE - Software Engineer/Manager

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Before entering the private sector, he served as an aviation officer in the U.S. Army, flying helicopters and leading teams in environments where mistakes carried real consequences. The role demanded calm under pressure, disciplined execution, and absolute trust in both people and systems. That experience formed his earliest leadership instincts, grounding his approach in accountability, preparation, and a deep respect for those he was responsible for leading.

US Army - Aviation Officer