Daddy, You Just Fly in Planes and Swear at People
From Midlife Remix by Midlife Remix
June 2, 2026 · 35 min · Episode 37
About this episode
Mike Ma discusses his career shift from Bank of America to founding Sidecut Ventures, exploring themes of identity, fatherhood, and the immigrant experience.
What if the resume everyone wants — Harvard, Vanguard, Bank of America — was the one you needed to walk away from?In this episode of The Midlife Remix, Steven Miyao sits down with his friend and former business partner Mike Ma, founder of Sidecut Ventures, a pre-seed fund built on a thesis most VCs would call upside down: advice before capital, mission before AUM, impact before optics.Mike left a senior role at Bank of America after his son delivered the line every midlife professional secretly dreads: "Daddy, I think you just fly in planes and swear at people." What followed was a complete remix — of work, identity, fatherhood, and what it means to honor the sacrifices of immigrant parents while writing your own story.They talk about the privilege of risk, the paradox of a partner who says "sell it all," investing in companies like Hapware (a wearable that helps blind people feel facial expressions), and why grinding at the kitchen table at 6 a.m. is the legacy Mike actually wants his kids to inherit.If you've ever wondered whether you're building the life you wanted — or just becoming very good at building the one you were supposed to want — this…
People in this episode
Host: Steven Miyao
Guest: Mike Ma
Topics covered
- career change
- fatherhood
- immigrant experience
- personal identity
- risk and privilege
- impact investing
Keywords
- career transition
- midlife crisis
- investing
- fatherhood
- immigrant parents
- personal growth
- life choices
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Harvard, Vanguard, Bank of America, Sidecut Ventures
Products: Hapware
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