Mike Hirshland joined Polaris in 1999 and focuses on Technology and Internet investments. 
Mike’s blog is www.vcmike.wordpress.com.

Experience:
Before joining Polaris, Mike served as Counsel to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, where he led the Senate’s investigation of and hearings on Microsoft Corporation.  Before joining the Committee, Mike was a clerk for Justice Anthony Kennedy at the U.S. Supreme Court and The Hon. J. Michael Luttig on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Prior to his legal career, Mike was a strategy consultant with Bain & Company....

Boards:

Mike represents Polaris as a director on the boards of Automattic (WordPress), Hangout Industries, KISSmetrics, LolApps, Quantcast, Sproutbuilder, The Start Project (where Mike is a co-founder), and Thing Labs, Inc. (Brizzly).  Mike led Polaris’ investments in Black Arrow, Q1 Labs, Formspring.me, and Stickybits.  He formerly served as Chairman of Ucentric Systems, which was acquired by Motorola.  Mike also was instrumental in Polaris’ creation and launch of Dogpatch Labs.

Education:
Mike earned his J.D. at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served on the Law Review Editorial Board, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, where he was awarded both a Harvard National Scholarship and a Harvard College Scholarship.  Mike also played on Harvard’s Ivy League Champion 1987 varsity football squad.