Mike Miller is a PhD physicist who co-founded cloud database company Cloudant (acquired by IBM) and now brings a scientific, experimental approach to venture investing at Liquid 2 Ventures, treating startup growth as something you can model and test rather than just feel. He focuses heavily on hard tech and climate companies while screening founders based on their connections to high-talent tech ecosystems rather than educational pedigree, and he's obsessed with co-founder relationship durability since he believes most startup failures stem from founder issues.

• Deep technical focus on data infrastructure, databases, and open-source software, evidenced by his enthusiasm for the release of CouchDB 2.0 and his founding role at Cloudant.
• Affinity for hard sciences and academic research, frequently sharing news about physics breakthroughs like neutrino mass discovery or celebrating colleagues publishing in journals like Nature.
• Strong connection to the Y Combinator ecosystem as an alumnus, often reflecting on his own startup journey during demo days or praising new YC hardware startups like Glowforge.
• advocacy for the Seattle technology ecosystem and the University of Washington, occasionally engaging in lighthearted rivalry with the Bay Area over the quality of coffee culture.
• Interest in disrupting legacy industries with broken user experiences, such as his observation that the insurance market is archaic and ripe for an Airbnb or Uber-style transformation.