Mika Salmi

Mika Salmi (born 16 November 1965) is a Finnish-born American entrepreneur, executive and pioneer in technology and media. Currently, Mika is a Senior Advisor at The Raine Group, a unique investment and advisory firm focused on the global media, entertainment and sports industries. He also serves on the Boards of CreativeLive, INSEAD, and Feed.fm.

Prior to Raine, Mika served as CEO of CreativeLive. CreativeLive is transforming the $100 billion continuing education market by offering frictionless access to the best teachers in the world through a social video platform. Under his leadership, the company grew from 8 to 85 employees, revenues increased over 600% and the company raised over $30m from Greylock Partners, Social+Capital Partnership, Creative Artists Agency, William Morris Endeavor, Richard Branson and other top tier investors.

A pioneer in new media, Salmi has started numerous companies and has helped many more as an investor and/or board member. Previously, Mika was President of Global Digital Media for MTV Networks/Viacom overseeing more than 1500 employees in 60 countries. Reporting directly to the Chairman and CEO of MTV Networks, Judy McGrath and as a member of her senior strategy team, Salmi worked across MTVN’s many brands, including Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV, and over 30 others.

Prior to that Salmi was CEO and Founder of Atom Entertainment, which was purchased by Viacom for $200 million in 2006. In 1998 Salmi founded AtomFilms, a pioneer in online entertainment, which served as a launching pad for new artists such as Jason Reitman and JibJab. Atom Entertainment, which includes brands Shockwave and AddictingGames, became a leader in online entertainment.

Before founding Atom, Salmi worked at RealNetworks forging the first relationships between an Internet company and traditional media companies. Salmi began his entertainment career in the music business, working at Sony Music International, EMI Music and TVT Records. While at TVT Records he saw multi-Platinum selling and Grammy winning artist Nine Inch Nails opening for another band, and asked for a demo tape. He passed the demo tape to TVT's head of A&R, Kitty Overton, who, with Steve Gottlieb, the founder of TVT, signed the band.

Other companies where Salmi is serving or has served on the Board of Directors include Inkd (acquired by RealSelf), Elisa (Finland's largest telecom company), Blinkbox (acquired by Tesco), Image Metrics (went public), Shockwave KK (acquired by Transcosmos/Japan), and Propel Renewable Fuels (innovator in alternative energy distribution).

Salmi has an MBA from INSEAD.

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