When Max was writing and directing musicals as a creative writing major at Wesleyan University, he never imagined he would soon be Co-Founder and CEO of Castle, an app to revolutionize property management. Max moved to Detroit in 2012 to join the startup Are You a Human where he did marketing, design and web development. In 2013, he teamed up with VFA Fellows and future Castle Co-Founders Tim Dingman and Scott Lowe (and a fourth partner, Sean Jackson), to buy and renovate an abandoned mansion in Detroit's Virginia Park Historic District. Castle grew out of Max, Tim and Scott's working together on the house, which is now home to seven entrepreneurs and two companies; Castle and Banza work out of the ground floor. Though Castle almost folded because the trio kept "pivoting" at first and ran out of money, the company is now thriving. They were chosen to join the prestigious Y Combinator program in 2016, one of the world's most powerful startup incubators, just raised $2 million from a leading Silicon Valley venture firm, and have hired 8 employees, with more joining soon. Castle continues to grow their business in Detroit, with plans to launch in other cities around the country in the near future. Max is a graduate of Wesleyan University and in the 2012 Venture for America class.