Mike Olson spent nearly 19 years as a senior equity research analyst at Piper Jaffray covering gaming, online media, and online travel, then moved into CFO roles at Version1, Minnesota RØKKR, and PowerUp Acquisition Corp before joining Deepwater/Loup as a venture partner. His background stands out for its deep focus on gaming and esports, including publicly questioning companies like Electronic Arts and GameStop on digital trends, correctly calling the shift to disc-less gaming years before it became mainstream, and building financial systems inside a gaming organization rather than just studying the industry from the outside.