Michael Lyon

Michael Lyon is the Founder and Managing Director of Vista Point Advisors, a boutique investment bank he co-founded in 2011 (with Eddie Le) that provides M&A and capital-raising advice exclusively to founder-led software and internet businesses. He brings more than 30 years of combined experience as a technology investment banker and chemical engineer, and by the firm's account has personally advised on more than 150 transactions totaling over $30 billion in enterprise value — spanning sell-side and buy-side M&A as well as IPOs.

Before founding Vista Point, Lyon was a senior member of the technology M&A team at Citigroup. Earlier in his career — and unusually for a technology banker — he worked as an engineer for ExxonMobil and BP, where he managed chemical plant operations. He is a registered broker; FINRA's BrokerCheck lists him under Vista Point Advisors.

Lyon holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He is an active voice on software M&A, publishing on the firm's blog and on Seeking Alpha and appearing on podcasts about selling SaaS companies (e.g., the "Season A" podcast and Vista Point's own "The Path to Exit").

A note on classification: the stub data labels Lyon an "Angel Investor" focused on the "Seed Round." Investor aggregators (e.g., Foundersuite) do list him as an angel investor, but his primary and verifiable role is as founder/managing director of a sell-side advisory firm. No public list of his personal angel portfolio could be confirmed, so the "Notable Investments" below are advisory transactions his firm led rather than personal equity checks.

• Concentrates exclusively on founder-led software and internet businesses — frequently bootstrapped/self-funded, middle-market companies — helping them navigate M&A and capital raises.
• Advisory (and stated angel) focus areas: SaaS, vertical software, mobile, digital media, AI, internet, and traditional software, with healthcare IT among sectors served.
• Vista Point positions itself as offering "unconflicted," sell-side-only advice, aligning entirely with the founder's interests rather than representing buyers — a core selling point Lyon emphasizes.
• Firm mission in Lyon's framing: advising founders "through life-changing transactions," reflecting a focus on maximizing outcomes for owners who have built a company without heavy prior institutional capital.
• Listed as a seed-stage angel in investor databases, consistent with his network and interest in early founder-led software companies, though check size and criteria are not publicly disclosed.