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Mike S.L. Heath
Mike forms long-lasting relationships with founders based on candid advice, efficiency and trust.
Mike is a partner and co-founder of Gunderson Dettmer’s Los Angeles office. For over 15 years, he has helped founders and boards form, finance, and sell companies and served as outside general counsel on day-to-day legal matters.
Mike prioritizes efficiency in all his work, building teams that scale as his clients grow, from the founder with an idea on a napkin to multibillion dollar companies on the verge of an IPO. He invests in trust-based relationships by providing candid advice in complex and ambiguous fact patters, backed by his experience advising hundreds of start-ups throughout their growth journeys.
Mike brings Gunderson’s industry-leading experience and proprietary knowledge and tools to his representation of high-growth companies in their financings, IPOs and M&A transactions. He also represents several well-known venture capital and growth equity funds in their investments.
Legal 500 recently named Mike a "Next Generation Partner," quoting clients saying he is "incredibly knowledgeable, responsive and always helpful" and "my favorite external counsel of all of the attorneys that we work with." Super Lawyers also recognized him as a 2022 and 2023 Rising Star.
Mike graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. He earned his bachelor’s degree just down Bancroft Avenue at the University of California, Berkeley. Even if they have to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, he hopes the Cal Bears will make the Rose Bowl in his lifetime.