A former performing artist, attorney, and veteran tech executive, Michelle brings a wealth of leadership expertise to the Okeanos team. In a career spanning over two decades, Michelle has held senior leadership positions and executed highly successful go to market strategies for some of the most iconic brands in the technology industry, including Intel, Qualcomm and GlobalFoundries. She currently is the CEO & Managing Director of Leyden Li Consulting, an executive advisory firm specializing in executive communications, new product development, brand management, and go to market strategy.
Michelle possesses strong business and financial acumen with domain expertise in the semiconductor design and manufacturing including hardware and software related to the internet of things, artificial intelligence and cyber security, cellular and wireless communications, IP licensing, mobile phones, IoT and automotive applications. With her experience and domain expertise, Michelle has made meaningful investments and contributions to Okeanos portfolio companies. She also serves as a board advisor to Hourglass Medical and serves on the advisory councils at U.C. Davis Graduate School of Management and the U.C. Davis School of Engineering. She previously served on the Board of Directors at BMD, Inc., the Sacramento Opera, and on the San Diego Leadership Council for 50/50 Women on Boards.
Michelle is a life-long champion for diversity & inclusion, integrity, collaborative problem-solving and fostering corporate environments where innovation can thrive. When supporting clients and evaluating new ventures, she looks for these values and cultural attributes that she considers foundational to innovative, high growth companies. She also explores these themes in her recently launched podcast Revealing Li.
Michelle and her husband split their time between Austin, Texas, the Virginia/D.C. area and San Diego, California.
We are grateful to have Michelle as a Venture Partner and key member of the Okeanos community!
