From Culture to Capital: Building Companies That Last
Mike Gamson
Co-founder and Managing Partner of Permanent Capital Partners
From scaling LinkedIn to backing AI-native startups, this episode dives into conviction-led leadership, culture as a moat, and why compassion wins in business.
Mike Gamson, an operator turned investor unpacks how principle-based leadership, data advantages, and conviction-not-discounting built enduring success. From architecting LinkedIn’s sales machine to backing AI-native founders, he shares stories of culture building, compassionate leadership, and conviction-led investing. It’s a journey through scaling from zero to billions without losing sight of “members first,” turning sales into a discipline of truth-telling, and building companies with lasting competitive moats in data and values.
About the Guest
Mike Gamson
Co-founder and Managing Partner of Permanent Capital Partners
Mike is a Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Permanent Capital V entures, an expansion stage venture capital firm. Before Permanent Capital Ventures, Mike had a successful career as an operator and investor. Mike was previously CEO at Evozyne, a Chicago based A.I. biotech company that aims to make novel proteins that can solve long standing challenges in therapeutics and sustainability. Prior to Evozyne, Mike was CEO of Relativity, a Chicago-based legal technology company most recently valued at $3.6B and backed by SilverLake as well as Iconiq Capital.. As CEO he significantly grew and expanded the company, accelerated industry adoption of new products, and developed the company’s social impact programs. Most notably, Mike spent 11 years at LinkedIn as the #2 operating executive leading the company across all revenue functions. Mike oversaw all commercial activity at LinkedIn globally, growing revenue from ~$10M to >$5B and the successful $26B acquisition by Microsoft. Mike played a crucial role in establishing their values-driven culture on a global scale. As an active angel investor, Mike has advised and worked with over 100 companies over the last 20 years. Mike serves on the board of directors for three non-profit organizations: One Goal, P33 and Green Schoolyards America. In 2019, Mike received the Entrepreneurial Champion Award from 1871 and The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. Mike holds an undergraduate degree from Amherst College and currently resides in Chicago with his wife and three children.