One-On-One With The Triumphant Tech Twosome

Michael tends to handle the technical product side, while Xochi handles everything else—as long as it isn’t sales, a weak area for both.
“Usually, it’s whoever cares most about the outcome of the particular project, they get to control it,” Xochi adds. “We have different kinds of skills and interests, so it works out naturally without us really arguing about it or debating it.”

While Xochi worked as a programmer for six years in London after the couple wed, “she never loved it,” Michael confesses. “It was never a passion for her, but it was very useful that she understood it, because it made running an internet company that much easier. She was happy to leave that part to me, and then I hate anything to do with legal, finance, operations or people problems. I left that to her.”

Their personal incubator, Monkey Inferno, employs about 22 people, mostly programmers. Some are currently working on turning Birthday Alarm into a Paperless Post-type website related to greeting cards. Others are on the Bebo team. After AOL ran Bebo into the ground, the Birches famously bought it back for $1 million in 2013, and last December, relaunched it as an experimental chat app with animated characters that can be brought to life with hashtags. The public gave the new app a resounding meh. Sent back to the drawing board, the team came up with what everyone at the incubator hopes is the next big thing, Blab, a live streaming app that allows four people to meet virtually and have a conversation; the app was released on the iTunes store on Aug. 17. The platform also includes a chat room where other users can watch or join the conversation.

With a team under them, they are free to explore other avenues. Michael has married his two worlds and developed hospitality software—The Battery is currently operating as a guinea pig as the Birches created most of the software currently in use at their club—that Michael hopes to license to other clubs in a year. They are also having a bus restored and outfitted with a bar, of course, to carry their club members to wine country. They’ve even started making their own wine, Moon Hollow. Add marketing and selling wine to their ever-growing agenda.

“Our lives have been tech and our children,” Xochi says. “I feel that with the start-ups, we didn’t have time for anything else. Now, we’re doing a lot more together around philanthropy, The Battery, as well as working on [our projects in] Devon. Now we have new, more interesting projects.”

When it comes to giving back, the Birches both display the passion and exuberance of start-up entrepreneurs. It wasn’t until they sold Bebo—together they held a 70 percent equity stake and walked away with $595 million—that they had any real money to donate. They latched on to Charity Water, a nonprofit that provides clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations, and where the Birches have invested $10.5 million. When Xochi turned 40, in lieu of gifts, she asked her friends to donate to the organization instead; her campaign raised $20,850. While the Birches built The Battery to fill a void in San Francisco’s nightlife scene—Michael and Xochi are often there, mingling with members— altruism fueled their desire as well.

After getting their private, members-only club off the ground, they had a coffee date with Lynne Benioff, who came up with the catchy name, Battery Powered, for their giving program, and helped them develop how it operates. It goes like this: members choose a level—High Voltage, minimum $100,000 annual contribution for a couple; Battery Couple, $20,000 minimum annually per couple; or Battery Powered, $4,000 minimum for an individual—and their donations, made in thirds, go toward a theme which changes three times a year as well. Givers at all three levels can nominate the nonprofit organizations to receive the funds raised, but only the High Voltage members can select the themes, which address a mix of local and global issues. It’s a format that allows the charitable supporters to discover and combine personal passions with collective influence for social impact while going deep in one area.

“Our tagline is ‘Activating Generosity’ and that’s what we’re trying to do,” says Xochi, who also sits on the board of WildAid, that’s mission is to end the illegal wildlife trade in our lifetimes. “We are trying to bring the members together and to have them experience and discover a new area, which they wouldn’t normally have access to.”

Since Battery Powered launched last fall, there have been four themes: San Francisco’s future, the California prison system, extreme poverty and the ongoing early childhood education. Experts visit the club for discussions; additional talks are also offered, such as one on where Marc Benioff, Ron Conway and Kat Taylor spoke about philanthropy shaping San Francisco’s future. In June, the Battery Powered program reached its biggest milestone yet when it gave an unprecedented $1.3 million to organizations working to end extreme poverty by 2030.

“When it’s something you’re passionate about, that’s when everyone else’s money goes towards your theme, and then when you’re not passionate, your money is giving back to someone else’s passion,” Michael says. “The idea with the money is kind of, what goes around comes around. We thought, this is a great way of experiencing philanthropy together.”

Togetherness is a word that clearly characterizes Michael and Xochi Birch, who stuck it out through tough times to reach the top. While they may live high on the hog, in their ever-hospitable style, they always welcome others to join in.