Cliff Michaels is a creative writer, storyteller, and entrepreneur with a passion for fresh ideas in a rapidly-changing world. He writes at the intersection of culture, humor, history, humanity, education, and critical thinking.

The author of New York Times bestseller: The 4 Essentials > An Uncommon Memoir about Education and Entrepreneurship, Cliff's first book features a unique personal and professional journey, historic-to-modern mentors, and a fresh framework for how we learn, teach, and grow.
 

Over 30 years, Cliff has also been the founder of companies in real estate, finance, technology, and global learning. He is a past President of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) Los Angeles (70+ countries, 200+ chapters) , and a member USC's first EdTech venture accelerator at the Rossier School of Education. Cliff is also a board member of Inclusion Matters, a non-profit building playgrounds for children with disabilities. 

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In 1999, Cliff was the Co-Founder/CEO of FirstUse.com, the world's first internet registry to feature Digital-Notary technology; a decade prior to blockchain solutions for trusted time-stamping and authentication of digital records.

 

Throughout his career, Cliff has served thousands of clients and families as a real estate broker, mortgage lender, VC, and mentor to young entrepreneurs. His commitment to global education inspired Cliff to also create a series of FREE masterclass e-courses for essential life and career skills.​ 

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Cliff's passions include books, writing, music, films, yoga, and tennis. He's also the proud dog dad of Lucy, a 2013 rescue who survived parvo when she was a pup. Age 13 in 2026, Lucy is now working on her memoir and has a lot to bark about.

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