Hey, I'm Mike. I'm the founder of Index Zero and chief architect of i0, a platform for knowledge creation, global process and workflow orchestration, and distributed sensemaking, problem solving, and decision support, built for individuals, groups, and organizations.
i0 represents my life’s work, and I am dedicating the rest of my career to it so that I can eventually give it away. It emerged as my reaction to a never-ending drive to solve the world’s most complex challenges, at a time when the world as we once knew it is disappearing before our eyes. Behind it are 75,000+ hours of earned professional experience designing processes and systems.
I started Index Zero from…zero. I’m bootstrapping the startup of the operating company, the governing foundation, and the community that will ultimately benefit from i0. The avoidance of outside capital investment is an intentional decision, necessary to cleanly and objectively address the 100 Challenges as described in the Index Zero Manifesto.
Until Index Zero can support founding builders and advisors, and eventually sustain itself through revenue, I’m personally funding i0 by serving a limited number of direct clients as a fractional advisor, consultant, and teacher.
My focus is business and technology strategy, planning for risk, and building the knowledge and capabilities organizations need to move with confidence. If that’s useful to you, I’m offering on-demand advisory, consulting, and teaching through 2026.
Mike’s Thought Leadership
I create original written and video thought leadership content from time to time, including blogs, long form series, and captures of raw, unfiltered and unsynthesized thoughts.
The Ontology of Mike Topalovich
This is my attempt to catalog and connect my knowledge, broken down into 5 core areas central to nearly all of my thinking.
