In a concerted effort to decentralize and diversify American innovation, Mike Moradi, co-founder and general partner of Oklahoma City-based Cortado Ventures, stands at the forefront of investing in seed-stage frontier technology companies across the U.S. Midcontinent. Featured in the NVCA’s "Meet a VC" series, Moradi and Cortado Ventures exemplify a growing movement within the venture capital industry to identify and nurture entrepreneurial talent far beyond traditional coastal tech hubs. Their core thesis is profoundly simple yet powerful: the most impactful founders, poised to transform critical industries, are often those who have spent years immersed within them. By strategically connecting this deep-seated experience with essential capital, customer networks, and a broader ecosystem of support, Cortado Ventures is actively expanding the geographical footprint of American innovation, fostering a new era of growth in regions historically underserved by venture funding. This approach is not merely about democratizing access to capital; it’s about unlocking a competitive advantage by leveraging an intimate understanding of complex industrial landscapes.
The Genesis of a Founder-First Firm: Mike Moradi’s Entrepreneurial Odyssey
Mike Moradi’s journey into venture capital is deeply rooted in his extensive, often challenging, entrepreneurial experiences. A six-time founder, Moradi navigated the tumultuous waters of company building across technically complex sectors, including biopharmaceuticals and nanotechnology. His initial foray into entrepreneurship began with a bold decision to leave dental school, a path that led to his first company’s failure. Far from being a deterrent, this initial setback served as a formative lesson in resilience and unwavering commitment. Moradi recounts, "The lesson was to keep pushing past every obstacle, to not be discouraged by hearing the word ‘no,’ and to stay the course." This early experience forged a resolve that would define his subsequent career.
Following this initial stumble, Moradi’s next venture achieved rapid growth and was successfully acquired by a Fortune 100 company, demonstrating his capacity for innovation and execution. Later, a San Francisco Bay Area startup he led faced near collapse after securing an $18 million Series B financing round before ultimately being acquired. This particular episode delivered a critical insight: while capital can indeed accelerate a company’s trajectory, speed without direction can be detrimental. "A high valuation and a full bank account will happily let you scale the wrong thing," Moradi observed, emphasizing the importance of foundational proof and readiness before aggressive scaling. These diverse experiences instilled in him a unique understanding of the entrepreneurial lifecycle, from inception and growth to failure and successful exit, shaping his belief that entrepreneurial optimism must be tempered with evidence, discipline, and a clear understanding of the next critical milestone. In 2020, Moradi co-founded Cortado Ventures with a team of seasoned founders, CEOs, and operators, united by a shared vision: to build the kind of firm they wished had existed during their own entrepreneurial endeavors—a firm that offered not just capital, but profound operational insight and unwavering support.
The Midcontinent Advantage: Unlocking Untapped Potential
Cortado Ventures’ investment thesis is strategically anchored in the unique competitive advantages offered by the U.S. Midcontinent. This vast region is not merely a geographic location but a vibrant hub for many of the foundational industries undergoing immense pressure to innovate and evolve. Sectors such as energy, aerospace and defense, healthcare, manufacturing, mobility, and logistics are characterized by complex physical environments, deeply entrenched supply chains, and demanding customer relationships. Transforming these industries demands more than superficial software solutions; it requires an intimate, granular understanding of their operational intricacies.
Cortado actively seeks out technical founders who possess this invaluable domain expertise—individuals who have spent years working inside hospitals, factories, laboratories, energy companies, aerospace programs, or logistics networks. Their firsthand experience grants them unparalleled credibility with customers, crucial insight into implementation challenges, and a knowledge base that is exceedingly difficult to cultivate from an external perspective. The geographical proximity itself becomes a significant investment advantage. The Midcontinent offers direct access to these critical industries and their potential customers, a robust and technically skilled workforce, and strong research institutions contributing to a pipeline of innovation. Furthermore, the region benefits from complementary public funding initiatives and significantly lower company-building costs compared to traditional tech epicenters, allowing startups to extend their runway and achieve more with less capital.
The firm’s diverse portfolio vividly reflects the breadth of innovation emerging from this fertile environment. Cortado-backed companies are applying cutting-edge technologies across a spectrum of vital areas, including space communications, industrial safety, critical infrastructure cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, healthcare technology, energy innovation, and next-generation mobility solutions. Cortado’s strategy is not predicated on the notion that Midcontinent founders deserve investment simply due to historical underfunding. Instead, it is built on the firm conviction that direct engagement with complex, "hard problems" inherent to these industries can produce exceptionally differentiated companies and, consequently, strong financial returns. As Moradi eloquently states, "Talent is not concentrated anywhere in particular. Capital and networks have just been slower to distribute than talent has." This philosophy underscores a broader mission: expanding the geographic reach of venture capital is not just about discovering more founders, but about uncovering overlooked sources of profound insight and disruptive innovation.
Beyond Capital: Cultivating a Thriving Ecosystem
Initially, Mike Moradi believed that the primary constraint stifling nascent venture ecosystems was a sheer shortage of capital. Cortado Ventures successfully demonstrated that promising companies could indeed be identified and funded within the Midcontinent. However, as the firm matured and its understanding deepened, Moradi’s perspective on the holistic needs of founders evolved considerably. "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 reflected.
This realization underscored a critical truth: founders require far more than just financial investment. They need experienced operators who can provide strategic guidance and help them circumvent avoidable pitfalls. They need early adopter customers willing to take a chance on unproven technology. They need patient investors prepared to support a company through multiple milestones. Crucially, they need a vibrant community where vital relationships can naturally form and flourish. "Money can accelerate a company," Moradi emphasized, "It cannot stand in for experience."
This expansive view profoundly shaped Cortado’s role within the broader Midcontinent ecosystem. Rather than hoarding relationships exclusively for its own portfolio companies, the firm actively works to connect founders with a diverse array of stakeholders: funders, universities, established corporations, policymakers, and technical experts. A cornerstone of this ecosystem-building effort is Cortado’s annual Midcontinent Venture Capital Summit, an event that convenes investors, limited partners, founders, and ecosystem leaders from across the nation to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange. Additionally, Cortado collaborates closely with regional entrepreneurship organizations and The Verge, a prominent Oklahoma City-based incubator and accelerator that provides critical company-building resources, specialized programming, and invaluable capital connections. Each of these interactions, whether a direct introduction or a serendipitous meeting, has the potential to help a founder secure a customer, find an adviser, recruit a key employee, forge a strategic collaboration, or attract an investor. Collectively, these cultivated relationships construct the essential infrastructure that enables more companies to not only launch but also to scale successfully within the region. For Moradi, this is where venture capital’s true impact transcends a single investment; a robust and interconnected ecosystem provides more entrepreneurs with a viable pathway to company formation, simultaneously creating a greater number of opportunities for capital, talent, and innovation to converge and thrive.
Disciplined Investing in an Uncertain Landscape
Early-stage venture capital inherently operates in an environment defined by incomplete information and high uncertainty. Mike Moradi candidly acknowledges this reality, stating, "Incomplete data is my job description." Rather than attempting the impossible task of eliminating uncertainty, Cortado Ventures employs a disciplined approach to investment evaluation. Moradi distinguishes between assumptions that can be tested immediately and those that will only be resolved over time. He meticulously identifies the critical conditions that must hold true for a venture to succeed, rigorously considers how these assumptions could be disproven, and carefully evaluates the cost associated with achieving the next meaningful milestone.
Cortado’s strongest convictions typically center on the founding team’s capabilities, the clarity and urgency of the customer problem being addressed, and the company’s demonstrable 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 a healthy degree of caution. This discipline becomes particularly vital when a financing round gains rapid momentum. The allure of a compelling founder and the competitive pressure of a swift process can create immense pressure to finalize a decision before core 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 deal-making.
When warranted, Cortado is prepared to deliberately slow down the process, bringing in independent scientific or technical experts to conduct additional diligence. This deeper scrutiny either solidifies the firm’s conviction or, conversely, may reveal a fundamental reason to step away from the investment. Moradi notes that Cortado’s most robust founder relationships often begin with this rigorous examination, as it sharpens strategic thinking and identifies potential risks while there is still ample time to address them proactively. However, slowing the decision-making process does not equate to slowing the response or support once an investment is made.
Moradi applies a similar discipline to valuation, viewing a sensible entry price as a crucial form of protection for all stakeholders: the founder, employees, and investors alike. While an aggressive valuation might feel like an immediate victory, if the company’s subsequent progress fails to meet the inflated expectations attached to that number, the consequences can be far-reaching. Such situations can negatively impact founder ownership, dilute employee equity, constrain future fundraising options, and ultimately hinder the company’s ability to adapt and pivot. Moradi cautions, "The right number buys you options for years. In boom times, people forget that financial crises happen." For Cortado Ventures, this discipline is not an indicator of a lack of belief in a founder’s ambition; rather, it is a strategic approach to grant an ambitious company the vital flexibility and time required to navigate challenges and ultimately succeed.
Operational Support: The "Work Already Done" Philosophy
Cortado Ventures distinguishes itself through a profound commitment to operational support, a philosophy best encapsulated by Mike Moradi’s two guiding words: "Speed and specificity." The firm’s team, having built, scaled, and successfully exited companies across many of the very industries in which they now invest, brings an invaluable depth of operating experience. This background profoundly shapes how Cortado supports founders when unforeseen challenges arise, or difficult strategic decisions must be made.
Moradi emphasizes that meaningful support means more than just offering advice; it means showing up with "work already done." "Answer in hours rather than days and show up with work already done instead of advice. Better yet, pick up the phone," he advises. This proactive, hands-on approach can manifest in various ways: meticulously rebuilding a financial model, leveraging their extensive network to make a critical customer introduction, actively recruiting a senior executive to fill a crucial role, or taking direct responsibility for navigating a sensitive part of a board conversation. It also entails the often-difficult task of delivering uncomfortable truths when a company’s runway is shortening or its core strategy requires a fundamental shift. Moradi vividly recalls being the founder in those challenging meetings: "What helped was someone who lowered the temperature, told the truth to me and the board, and followed up after the meeting."
As Cortado and the surrounding Midcontinent ecosystem have matured, the firm’s founder support mechanisms have become increasingly sophisticated. Portfolio companies now have access to a rich tapestry of resources within Cortado’s network, including operating executives, industry specialists, expert advisers, prospective customers, dedicated coaches, follow-on investors, and a supportive community of fellow founders. The needs of founders in the region have also evolved. While in earlier stages, Cortado’s initial investment and its ability to attract additional investors were paramount, today, founders increasingly seek customer access, senior talent acquisition, deep technical expertise, and candid, honest guidance. Crucially, the firm’s role is never to usurp control from the entrepreneur. Sometimes, the most valuable contribution an investor can make is the judicious decision not to intervene. As Moradi wisely states, "Other times, being helpful means staying out of the way." This nuanced understanding of founder dynamics underscores Cortado’s dedication to truly empowering, rather than merely funding, its portfolio companies.
Broader Impact: Building for Longevity and National Innovation
Mike Moradi firmly believes that a venture firm’s responsibility extends far beyond the confines of its own portfolio. "We must build things that outlast a single fund," he asserts, articulating a vision for enduring impact. For Cortado Ventures, this commitment translates into actively strengthening the connective tissue among founders, funders, universities, corporations, and policymakers across the Midcontinent. It also encompasses fostering the growth and formation of other investment firms within the region, rather than viewing them as competitors. "This is not a zero-sum game," Moradi explains. "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 to collaborate and participate in promising ventures, and over time, a durable pathway is established between regional innovation and national capital markets. Yet, Moradi stresses that ecosystem building must never supersede a firm’s fundamental responsibility to its limited partners. His experience as a trustee and audit committee member for a state retirement system reinforced the paramount importance of directness regarding investment risk, duration, and potential losses. "Ecosystem building matters, and it does not excuse any of us from being disciplined fiduciaries first," he states, highlighting the dual imperative of growth and accountability.
Moradi also recognizes the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) as a critical part of the connective infrastructure supporting firms and founders nationwide. Policy issues—ranging from capital formation and research commercialization to immigration, government procurement, tax treatment, and securities regulations—are not abstract concepts. They directly influence an emerging manager’s ability to raise a fund, a startup’s capacity to attract essential talent, and a new technology’s potential to 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 active participation in the NVCA provides a vital platform to inject a Midcontinent perspective into national conversations concerning innovation, capital formation, and the future trajectory of the venture industry, ensuring that regional voices are heard at the highest levels.
Expanding the Map of American Innovation
Mike Moradi hopes that Cortado Ventures’ narrative can illuminate the true breadth and diversity of American venture capital. While the industry’s largest, most publicized firms often capture the lion’s share of attention, the reality is that "most of VC looks nothing like the caricature." The vast majority of the industry is comprised of smaller, specialized investors writing early checks into niche areas—be they industrial, geographic, demographic, or otherwise. Moradi points out that even a VC firm itself operates as a startup until it reaches its third or fourth fund, emphasizing the inherent entrepreneurial spirit required.
These smaller, specialized firms play an indispensable role in the innovation ecosystem. They are adept at identifying founders before their markets become obvious, connecting highly specialized knowledge with targeted capital, and guiding companies through the arduous period between a promising idea and a sustainable business model. "The hardest work happens after the money moves," Moradi affirms, highlighting the ongoing, intensive support required post-investment.
New technological advancements are making this work even more consequential. The proliferation of artificial intelligence, automation, advanced manufacturing techniques, energy innovation, biotechnological breakthroughs, and space technology is dramatically reducing the cost of pursuing ambitious ideas. This paradigm shift means that small, agile teams can now tackle opportunities that once demanded the vast resources of a large corporation or a national program. Significantly, many of these groundbreaking teams are emerging in locations intimately connected to the complex problems they are striving to solve.
This decentralization of innovation is the broader impact of expanding venture capital across America. When investors consciously look beyond familiar networks and engage with founders where critical industries operate, they catalyze a virtuous cycle: more innovative ideas transform into viable companies, more groundbreaking technologies reach the market, and crucially, more communities actively participate in and benefit from the country’s vibrant innovation economy. For Mike Moradi, the unwavering optimism for the future lies squarely with the 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 Cortado Ventures’ deep-seated commitment to driving progress and prosperity through strategic, purpose-driven investment. Cortado Ventures’ impactful work continues to redefine the landscape of American innovation, and the NVCA proudly supports their mission. To explore more about their pioneering efforts, visit cortado.ventures.
