Max is the Founder & Managing Partner of Heartland Ventures, which he founded in 2016. 

Heartland was formed to do what no other venture capital fund has done: connect established Midwest companies with coastal startups, giving business leaders a voice in the tech transformation happening in their industries. 

Leveraging a network of strategic investors composed of private, often rural, and mostly multi-generational business owners and operators, Max has effectively formed the largest network of mid-market tech buyers in the Midwest. Heartland has over $100 million under management and has invested in 20+ high-performing portfolio companies. Fund I has been fully invested and Heartland is actively investing from a larger Fund II.

Max is a forward-thinking venture capitalist with a passion for expanding technological innovation into smaller, underrepresented Heartland communities. Max closely follows and analyzes Midwestern business trends to gain insights into pain points, tech needs, and operational opportunities. He manages the fund’s relationships with other venture capital partners and oversees key investment decisions with the Heartland team.

Max has been entrepreneurial from a young age. At 14, he purchased his first investment property, a rundown duplex in northern Wisconsin, using money from a small landscaping company he had started. Over the years, he grew the single property into a 450 residential unit portfolio. In college, Max won an Edison Award for a patented academic software product. 

Max received a B.S. in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2022, an Executive of the Year by Columbus Business First, and a Future 50 Member by Columbus CEO.