The venture capital landscape, often stereotyped as an exclusive domain of coastal metropolises, is undergoing a profound transformation, with firms like Cortado Ventures actively redefining its geographic and thematic boundaries. At the forefront of this shift is Mike Moradi, co-founder and General Partner of the Oklahoma City-based firm, whose unique journey from serial entrepreneur to venture capitalist informs Cortado’s distinctive approach to investing in seed-stage frontier technology companies across the U.S. Midcontinent. This spotlight, part of the NVCA’s "Meet a VC" series, illuminates the deeply personal convictions, strategic foresight, and unwavering commitment to ecosystem building that propel Cortado Ventures, demonstrating how proximity to industry challenges and a founder-centric philosophy can unlock significant innovation and foster robust economic growth in historically underserved regions.
The Genesis of a Founder-First Philosophy: Mike Moradi’s Entrepreneurial Odyssey
Mike Moradi’s path to venture capital is not one paved with immediate successes but rather forged through the crucible of firsthand entrepreneurial struggle and triumph. A six-time founder, Moradi navigated the intricate and often perilous waters of company building across technically complex sectors such as biopharmaceuticals and nanotechnology. His audacious journey began when he made the pivotal decision to leave dental school, driven by an unyielding ambition to create. His inaugural venture, a testament to youthful idealism, ultimately failed. This initial setback, however, did not diminish his resolve but instead instilled a crucial lesson in perseverance. "The lesson was to keep pushing past every obstacle, to not be discouraged by hearing the word ‘no,’ and to stay the course," Moradi recounts, emphasizing the resilience vital for any entrepreneur.
This foundational experience became a bedrock for his subsequent ventures. His second company rapidly scaled and was successfully acquired by a Fortune 100 enterprise, validating his tenacity. Later, a San Francisco Bay Area startup he led also achieved an acquisition, but only after confronting near-catastrophic failure following an $18 million Series B financing round. This near-miss delivered a different, equally profound lesson: while capital can accelerate growth, speed without direction is a dangerous accelerant. "A high valuation and a full bank account will happily let you scale the wrong thing," Moradi observed, underscoring the critical importance of foundational proof and strategic alignment before aggressive expansion. These experiences cemented his belief that entrepreneurial optimism must be tempered with rigorous evidence, disciplined execution, and a clear understanding of a company’s immediate, verifiable milestones. It is this unique blend of hard-won experience that positions Moradi and Cortado Ventures as empathetic and uniquely qualified partners for founders, offering guidance that extends far beyond mere financial investment.
Cortado Ventures: Built by Founders, for Founders in 2020
Emerging in 2020, a year marked by unprecedented global disruption, Cortado Ventures was purposefully structured by Moradi and a team of seasoned founders, CEOs, and operators to embody the very support system they wished they had encountered during their own entrepreneurial endeavors. The firm’s core thesis is elegantly simple yet powerfully transformative: the most impactful innovators are often those who have spent years immersed in the critical industries they seek to revolutionize. By strategically connecting these "insider founders" with capital, pivotal customers, and a robust network of support, Cortado aims to decentralize American innovation, fostering its growth in regions previously overlooked by traditional venture capital. This approach directly addresses the market inefficiency where deep industry expertise exists but lacks the necessary capital and network infrastructure to flourish.
The Midcontinent Advantage: A Hotbed for Frontier Technology
The U.S. Midcontinent, frequently dubbed "flyover country" by coastal investors, is strategically positioned as a burgeoning hub for frontier technology due to its intrinsic connection to industries ripe for transformation. Sectors such as energy (including the rapidly evolving clean energy landscape), aerospace and defense, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, mobility, and logistics are deeply embedded in the region’s economic fabric. These industries operate within complex physical environments, rely on established supply chains, and serve demanding customer bases, necessitating solutions that go beyond superficial software applications. True transformation in these areas demands an intimate understanding of operational intricacies, regulatory landscapes, and deep-seated industry pain points.
Cortado Ventures specifically seeks out technical founders who possess this profound understanding, often cultivated through years spent working directly within hospitals, factories, laboratories, energy companies, aerospace programs, or logistics networks. Their firsthand experience grants them unparalleled credibility with potential customers, critical insights into implementation challenges, and a nuanced knowledge base that would be exceedingly difficult to develop from an external vantage point.
The geographic location itself offers a distinct competitive advantage. The Midcontinent provides unparalleled proximity to these critical industries and their potential customers, a technically skilled workforce (often cultivated through regional universities and vocational programs), robust research institutions, and complementary public funding initiatives. Moreover, the significantly lower cost of company building in the region—encompassing everything from real estate and labor to operational expenses—allows startups to extend their runway and achieve more with less capital compared to their coastal counterparts. This economic efficiency translates directly into a more favorable risk-reward profile for early-stage investments.
Data substantiates this shift. While traditional VC hubs like California and New York continue to dominate, the Midcontinent has seen a steady increase in venture funding. According to recent reports, states like Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas, though still receiving a fraction of total national VC, have experienced year-over-year growth in deal count and capital invested, albeit from a lower base. This growth is driven by local initiatives, supportive state policies, and the increasing recognition that talent and innovation are distributed, not concentrated. Cortado’s diverse portfolio—spanning space communications, industrial safety, critical infrastructure cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, energy, and mobility—serves as a compelling testament to the breadth and depth of innovation emerging from this environment. The firm’s strategy is not predicated on a charitable impulse to fund overlooked regions but on the firm conviction that proximity to hard, real-world problems inherently produces differentiated companies capable of generating strong financial returns. As Moradi succinctly puts it, "Talent is not concentrated anywhere in particular. Capital and networks have just been slower to distribute than talent has." This philosophy aims to correct that historical imbalance, expanding the geographic footprint of American innovation.
Ecosystem Building: Capital is Necessary, But Not Sufficient
When Cortado Ventures first launched, Mike Moradi, like many early-stage ecosystem builders, believed that the primary impediment to a burgeoning venture landscape in the Midcontinent was a scarcity of capital. The firm quickly proved its ability to identify and fund promising companies in the region, attracting co-investors and demonstrating viability. However, as Cortado matured and its understanding of the regional dynamics deepened, Moradi’s perspective on what founders truly needed evolved significantly. "Five years ago, I would have said the limiting reagent in a young ecosystem was capital. Capital turned out to be necessary, and also nowhere close to sufficient," he reflects, highlighting a crucial realization.
Founders, particularly in nascent ecosystems, require a much broader spectrum of support beyond mere funding. They need experienced operators who can provide hands-on guidance to help them sidestep preventable pitfalls; customers willing to take a chance on unproven, yet transformative, technologies; patient investors prepared to bridge the gaps between milestones; and, crucially, a vibrant community where vital relationships—mentorships, partnerships, and collaborations—can organically form. "Money can accelerate a company," Moradi states, "It cannot stand in for experience."
This expansive understanding profoundly shaped Cortado’s role within the broader Midcontinent ecosystem. The firm actively works to weave together a comprehensive network of founders, funders, academic institutions, large corporations, policymakers, and technical experts, deliberately extending these relationships beyond its proprietary portfolio companies. This inclusive approach is exemplified by Cortado’s annual Midcontinent Venture Capital Summit, a pivotal event that convenes investors, limited partners, founders, and ecosystem leaders from across the nation. The summit serves as a critical nexus for knowledge exchange, networking, and capital deployment, showcasing regional opportunities to a national audience. Furthermore, Cortado collaborates closely with regional entrepreneurship organizations and The Verge, a prominent Oklahoma City incubator and accelerator that provides invaluable company-building resources, specialized programming, and crucial capital connections. Each interaction fostered by these initiatives—be it a casual conversation at a summit or a structured program at an accelerator—has the potential to connect a founder with a critical customer, a seasoned advisor, a key employee, a strategic collaborator, or a vital investor. Collectively, these myriad relationships construct the essential infrastructure that enables more companies to successfully launch, scale, and thrive. For Moradi, this collaborative ecosystem building represents the profound ripple effect of venture capital, extending its impact far beyond the confines of a single investment and creating a more robust, resilient economic future for the entire region.
Investment Discipline: Conviction Without False Certainty
Early-stage venture investing is inherently characterized by incomplete information and a high degree of uncertainty. Moradi readily acknowledges this fundamental reality: "Incomplete data is my job description." Rather than futilely attempting to eliminate uncertainty, Cortado’s investment philosophy centers on a disciplined approach to managing it. This involves meticulously separating assumptions that can be immediately tested and validated from those that will only resolve over time. The firm rigorously identifies the critical conditions that must hold true for an investment to succeed, actively considers how these conditions might be disproven, and meticulously evaluates the cost-effectiveness of reaching the next meaningful milestone.
Cortado’s strongest convictions typically coalesce around three core pillars: the strength and cohesion of the founding team, the clarity and urgency of the customer problem being addressed, and the company’s demonstrated rate of progress. Conversely, Moradi approaches predictions regarding the precise timing of an emerging market or the exact path a company might eventually take to an exit with greater caution. This disciplined framework becomes particularly vital during rapidly moving financing rounds, where the allure of a compelling founder and the pressure of a competitive process can often incentivize hasty decisions before central investment assumptions have been thoroughly vetted. "A hard deadline is exactly when people stop asking uncomfortable questions," Moradi warns, highlighting a common pitfall in high-stakes negotiations.
To counteract this, Cortado is prepared to deliberately slow down the diligence process when necessary, often bringing in independent scientific or technical experts for a deeper, unbiased evaluation. This additional scrutiny can either robustly strengthen the firm’s conviction in an investment or, equally importantly, reveal compelling reasons to step away. Moradi notes that Cortado’s most enduring founder relationships have often begun with this very level of intense scrutiny, as it sharpens strategic thinking and proactively identifies potential risks while there is still ample opportunity to address them. However, slowing the decision-making process does not equate to delaying responsiveness; rather, it ensures that when a decision is made, it is well-informed and strategic.
This same discipline extends to valuation. Moradi firmly believes that "A sensible entry price is a form of protection for the founder, employees, and investors alike." While an aggressive valuation might feel like an immediate victory for a startup, if the company’s subsequent progress fails to meet the inflated expectations attached to that number, the repercussions can be severe. These consequences can negatively impact founder ownership, dilute employee equity, constrain future fundraising options, and ultimately hinder the company’s agility and ability to adapt to unforeseen challenges. Conversely, VCs must also avoid overly punitive valuations that stifle growth. The key, Moradi emphasizes, is balance. "The right number buys you options for years. In boom times, people forget that financial crises happen," he cautions, underscoring the long-term strategic advantage of prudent valuation. For Cortado, discipline is not a manifestation of a lack of belief in a founder’s ambition; it is, paradoxically, a strategic tool designed to grant ambitious companies the crucial flexibility and extended runway they need to navigate uncertainties and ultimately achieve enduring success.
Hands-On Support: Showing Up With Work Already Done
The operational experience embedded within Cortado’s team—having built, scaled, and successfully exited companies across many of the industries in which the firm invests—profoundly shapes its approach to supporting founders. This practical understanding is particularly invaluable when strategic plans inevitably shift or difficult decisions emerge. Moradi distills the essence of meaningful support into two critical attributes: "Speed and specificity." He elaborates: "Answer in hours rather than days and show up with work already done instead of advice. Better yet, pick up the phone."
This actionable support might involve rebuilding a complex financial model from scratch, leveraging the firm’s network for a critical customer introduction, actively recruiting a senior executive to fill a key leadership gap, or taking direct responsibility for navigating a challenging board conversation. It also encompasses the difficult but necessary task of delivering uncomfortable truths when a company’s runway is rapidly shortening or a fundamental strategy requires a drastic pivot. Moradi vividly recalls being the founder in such precarious meetings. "What helped was someone who lowered the temperature, told the truth to me and the board, and followed up after the meeting," he reflects, emphasizing the empathetic yet firm guidance that founders truly need during moments of crisis.
Cortado’s founder support system has become increasingly sophisticated as both the firm and the surrounding ecosystem have matured. Portfolio companies now benefit from access to a comprehensive network of operating executives, specialized industry experts, trusted advisors, prospective customers, experienced coaches, follow-on investors, and a peer group of other founders within the firm’s extensive network. The evolving needs of founders in the region have also dictated the evolution of Cortado’s support. While initial capital and the ability to attract additional investors were paramount when capital was scarce, today’s founders increasingly require direct access to customers, senior talent, deep technical expertise, and candid, honest guidance that only experienced operators can provide. Crucially, the firm’s role is not to usurp control from the entrepreneur. Sometimes, the most valuable contribution an investor can make is the wisdom to know precisely when not to intervene. "Other times," Moradi concludes, "being helpful means staying out of the way."
Building What Outlasts a Fund: A Vision for Enduring Impact
Mike Moradi’s vision for Cortado Ventures extends far beyond the typical lifecycle of a single venture fund. He firmly believes that a venture firm bears a responsibility to "build things that outlast a single fund," fostering sustainable infrastructure for innovation. For Cortado, this translates into a relentless commitment to strengthening the connective tissue among founders, funders, universities, corporations, and policymakers across the Midcontinent. It also means actively encouraging and enabling the formation and growth of other investment firms within the region, rather than viewing them as competitors. "This is not a zero-sum game," Moradi asserts. "We want to enable a dozen other firms in our geography, and bring in outside funds for later rounds. We need to create scalable structures where everyone can win."
A larger, more interconnected investment community yields manifold benefits: founders gain access to a broader array of potential capital sources and expertise, investors find more opportunities for collaboration and participation in promising companies, and over time, a durable pathway is established between regional innovation and national capital markets. This ecosystem-building imperative, however, does not diminish Cortado’s fundamental responsibility to its limited partners. Moradi, having served as a trustee and audit committee member for a state retirement system, deeply understands the paramount importance of fiduciary duty—being direct and transparent about investment risk, duration, and potential losses. "Ecosystem building matters, and it does not excuse any of us from being disciplined fiduciaries first," he emphasizes.
Cortado’s engagement with the NVCA (National Venture Capital Association) is another critical component of its ecosystem strategy. The NVCA serves as vital connective infrastructure, advocating for policies that directly impact venture firms and founders nationwide. Issues such as capital formation, research commercialization, immigration policies affecting talent acquisition, government procurement, tax treatment, and securities regulations are not abstract; they directly influence whether an emerging manager can successfully raise a fund, whether a startup can attract essential talent, and whether a new technology can ultimately reach the customers and institutions that desperately need it. "NVCA helps each of us make policy concrete and stay on top of the issues that matter in D.C. and beyond," Moradi notes. Furthermore, Cortado’s participation offers a crucial platform to infuse a Midcontinent perspective into national conversations surrounding innovation, capital formation, and the future trajectory of the venture industry, ensuring that diverse regional voices are heard.
Expanding the Map of American Innovation
Moradi hopes that the story of Cortado Ventures can serve as a powerful narrative to broaden the public’s understanding of the true breadth and diversity of American venture capital. While the industry’s largest, most visible firms often garner the lion’s share of attention, the vast majority of venture activity is undertaken by smaller, specialized investors writing early checks into niche industries, specific technologies, unique communities, and distinct geographic regions. "Most of VC looks nothing like the caricature. The bulk of the industry is small firms writing early checks into some niche, be it industrial, geographic, demographic, or otherwise. And a VC firm is also a startup until fund 3 or 4," Moradi explains, demystifying the industry.
These specialized firms play an indispensable role in identifying founders before their markets become obvious, skillfully connecting specialized knowledge with patient capital, and expertly guiding companies through the notoriously difficult period between a promising initial idea and a sustainable, thriving business. "The hardest work happens after the money moves," Moradi affirms.
The current technological epoch, marked by rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, automation, advanced manufacturing techniques, energy innovation, biotechnologies, and space technology, is dramatically lowering the cost and increasing the feasibility of pursuing ambitious ideas. Small, agile teams can now undertake opportunities that once demanded the vast resources of large corporations or national programs. Critically, many of these groundbreaking teams will naturally emerge in regions intimately connected to the very problems they are striving to solve.
This decentralization of innovation, fueled by firms like Cortado, has a profound and far-reaching impact across America. When investors consciously look beyond familiar networks and actively seek out founders in regions where critical industries operate, they facilitate the transformation of more ideas into viable companies, enable more cutting-edge technologies to reach the market, and empower more communities to participate meaningfully in the nation’s innovation economy. For Mike Moradi, the ultimate source of optimism resides in the relentless spirit of founders who dare to attempt what others deem impossible. "Never forget that we’re here for them. When we do this right, everyone, including humanity, wins," he concludes, encapsulating the profound societal benefit that well-executed venture capital can deliver. Cortado Ventures, as a proud member of the NVCA, stands as a beacon of this expanding vision, proving that the future of American innovation is truly being built from every corner of the country.
