The Tech Entrepreneur Who Funded an Olympic Sport Revolution
In partnership with Miss Investigate
By Jamal Hamama
Silicon Valley billionaires often chase moonshots—self-driving cars, space travel, AI breakthroughs. Michael Paulus, the tech entrepreneur behind two multi-billion-dollar businesses, set his sights on a different frontier: propelling American ski mountaineering onto the Olympic podium.
His donation to launch Project Podium marks the first time U.S. athletes in this emerging sport will have full-time coaching, structured training, and global competition support ahead of its 2026 Winter Games debut.
From Code to Cold Peaks
Paulus isn’t a typical philanthropist. The Stanford-trained engineer became a billionaire through building two unicorn fintech companies.
But his ventures always carried a thread of solving overlooked problems. At Addepar, he tackled Wall Street’s opacity post-2008 crisis; at Assurance IQ, he smoothed out insurance access for underserved consumers.
That same pattern drives his investment in USA Skimo. “Most Americans don’t even know ski mountaineering exists,” Paulus admits. “But it’s a sport demanding brutal endurance—racing up mountains on skis, then descending at breakneck speeds. These athletes are warriors. They just needed resources.”
His donation funds elite coaches’ salaries, European competition travel, and youth development pipelines. These investments address gaps that previously hindered U.S. athletes’ competitiveness against Swiss or French rivals.
The Inflection Point
Ski mountaineering’s Olympic inclusion in 2026 has created urgency. Without immediate funding, U.S. athletes were competing against European powerhouses with decades of government-backed training. Paulus’ injection allowed USA Skimo to hire Sarah Cookler, a decorated racer and coach, as head of sport.
For the first time, top U.S. athletes will have the funding to race all World Cup events this season, which is crucial for Olympic qualification. Junior programs now scout talent nationwide, while Cookler’s “podium protocol” pairs athletes with nutritionists and biomechanics.
This was a luxury previously reserved for Alpine skiing or snowboarding. Paulus’ tech mindset surfaces here, “Scale the model that works. If a tactic gets an athlete 1% faster, replicate it across the team.”
Beyond Medals: A Legacy in Motion
Paulus’s work mirrors his business philosophy—identify inflection points, then accelerate. Just as Addepar looked to solve the problems behind the great financial crisis and Assurance IQ capitalized on digital insurance demand pre-pandemic, Project Podium aligns with ski mountaineering’s explosive growth. The sport gained 30% more U.S. participants since 2020, fueled by backcountry enthusiasts craving competition.
But for Paulus, this is not about vanity. A lifelong skier who funded obesity research at Stanford, he sees athletic investment as preventative healthcare. “Ski mountaineering is incredible both for physical and mental health. If we can continue to grow the sport across America, it’s a vaccine against sedentary lifestyles,” he argues.
In addition to funding America’s top Athletes, Paulus is sponsoring coaching and gear to make the sport accessible to the next generation “Growing the sport at the youth and club level is critical both to our future Olympic success and to making skimo a mass-participation sport.”
Critics argue private funding risks uneven development in Olympic sports. Yet Paulus’ bet highlights a reality: niche disciplines thrive when patrons bridge gaps. Red Bull’s support of extreme sports or Bridgewater’s backing of modern pentathlon show private capital’s rising influence. “The old model—waiting for sponsors or TV deals—doesn’t work anymore,” says Paulus.
As Project Podium’s athletes train in Colorado’s Rockies, Paulus watches metrics like a startup dashboard. “Medals matter, but so does momentum. If we prove this works, others will invest. That’s how revolutions start.”
For a sport once hidden in alpine shadows, the glare of Olympic lights—and one tech founder’s conviction—just might ignite its brightest era.
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