A finance professional from San Francisco, California, Michael Cohen has three decades of experience in investing. Today, Michael Cohen is the investment director at the San Francisco area-based Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation (SAIC), the largest automotive investment group in China.
Mr. Cohen’s past professional experience includes being a principal at Global Crossing Ventures from 1999-2001. His job involved supervising seven senior technical executives and venture partners and leading end-to-end operations. In 2007, he founded Advanced Data Centers, which was the largest wholesale data center operator catering to enterprise and corporate users.
Mr. Cohen’s more recent roles include being the managing director and head of investment committee for Venovate Marketplace, Inc., starting in 2014. In this position, he managed a team of eight registered representatives and oversaw investment opportunities. He was also responsible for investment and fund manager due diligence, selection, and listing approval.
In his current role as investment director with SAIC, Michael Cohen researches and identifies new investment opportunities. He cultivates strategic relationships with startup companies, venture capitalists, incubators, and accelerators. Since he began with the company in 2015, it has invested $29 million in various businesses.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
My day starts early, with a review of priorities, followed by focused blocks for deep work like deal analysis, strategy, and writing. Meetings are purposeful and scheduled to minimize distractions, and I carve out time for reflection and idea generation. Using tools like LLMs to research and summarize allows me to stay productive and make high-impact decisions.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I try to subscribe to Warren Buffett’s 5/25 rule:
1. List your 25 goals: write down 25 things you want to accomplish, whether they are career goals, personal aspirations, or other life objectives.
2. Identify your top 5: from that list of 25, circle the five most important goals that you truly want to achieve.
3. Create an “avoid-at-all-costs” list: move the remaining 20 goals to a separate “do not touch” list.
4. Commit to the focus: actively avoid spending any time, energy, or mental space on the goals in your “avoid” list until you have successfully completed your top five.
What’s one trend that excites you?
I am extremely excited about AI because it can solve complex problems, enhance human creativity, and boost productivity by automating repetitive tasks and providing insights in various industries, like medicine and weather forecasting. AI’s ability to assist with day-to-day activities, enable new forms of innovation, and even help in space exploration also contributes to public interest, though concerns about its risks and ethical implications persist.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Consistently starting your day by tackling the single most important task before anything else. This habit—often called “eating the frog”—builds momentum, ensures your best energy is spent on high-impact work, and prevents distraction from lower-value tasks. Over time, it compounds into more meaningful output than any productivity hack.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Focus less on trying to plan the perfect path and more on building relationships, taking smart risks early, and trusting that failures are stepping stones—not dead ends.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
I believe AI won’t replace jobs—it will create more than it destroys, even though headlines say otherwise.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Every day I carve out at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to think and write. It clears my mind, helps me prioritize what really matters, and almost always leads to better decisions. I recommend everyone build a daily habit of reflection—even if it’s just journaling a page or outlining tomorrow’s priorities.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
When I feel overwhelmed, I pause and step away from the noise—whether it’s taking a short walk, writing down everything on my mind, or reducing it to just the single next action I can take. That reset always brings clarity and focus back.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
The strategy that’s helped me most is deliberately building long-term relationships before I need them. By consistently staying curious, adding value, and keeping in touch with people across industries, I’ve created a network that opens doors to opportunities, insights, and partnerships that I could never have engineered through cold outreach alone.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
One failure I faced was stretching myself too thin early in my career—I tried to say yes to everything and ended up burned out. It forced me to step back, reset my priorities, and learn how to focus on what truly mattered instead of chasing every opportunity. The lesson I carry forward is that discipline and focus are just as important as ambition and sometimes saying no is the smartest move you can make.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Create a platform that lets small and mid-sized manufacturers rent underutilized industrial robots on-demand. Many factories have robots sitting idle, while smaller businesses need automated production but can’t afford full-capex machines. The platform would handle matching, remote programming support, and transactions, turning idle robotics into a shared, pay-as-you-go manufacturing network.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
I use LLM models to research, draft, and brainstorm, turning hours of work into minutes. It helps me summarize reports, generate investor notes, and explore ideas, so I can focus on strategy and decision-making.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
My favorite podcast is All-In. The hosts—Chamath, Jason, David Sacks, and David Friedberg—offer candid, high-level insights on tech, business, and current events that I find invaluable.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I recently enjoyed 1883. I was drawn to its storytelling, cinematography, and the way it portrays resilience and perseverance in the face of extreme challenges. Beyond entertainment, it’s a reminder of the grit and determination required to achieve long-term goals—something I relate to both personally and professionally.
Key learnings
- Focus and prioritization are critical for productivity; tackling the most important task first and carving out uninterrupted thinking time drives results.
- Building and maintaining long-term relationships can create opportunities and insights that are otherwise inaccessible.
- Learning from failures—especially missed opportunities or overextension—leads to stronger decision-making and resilience.
- Leveraging technology, including AI and LLM tools, can dramatically enhance efficiency and support smarter strategic choices.
- Simplifying complex processes, whether through no-code solutions or accessible frameworks, enables broader adoption and impact.