Fundraising Fox

Brent Traut

Founder

Founder at Rainmaker

Seattle, Washington, United States

FoundedRainmaker Β· YC

About

Brent Traut is a co-founder of Rainmaker with previous experience at Apple, Microsoft, Pinterest, and Hashflow.

LinkedIn β†—X / Twitter β†—
Latest on 𝕏

Brent Traut @btraut

Codex-managed home IoT is the best because IoT systems constantly decay. They require updates, refreshed auth, and sometimes good 'ol reboots. Codex can just do all this with automations. Plus, it's so freakin' cool to tell Codex to turn on my robot vacuum.

Aug 1, 2026 Β· β™₯ 2

Brent Traut @btraut

Spending my weekend trying to get ChatGPT Work to alleviate more pain in my home life: - Created an AI-powered junk mail filter - Made remote threads for meal prep, workout schedule, and other calendar management tasks - Had it research and order a bunch of random home goods I

Aug 1, 2026 Β· β™₯ 7

Brent Traut @btraut

It’s alllive! https://t.co/0hJnkxlCIW

Jul 27, 2026 Β· β™₯ 15

Founder at RainmakerYC W23

Intro paths

YC

Brent went through Y Combinator (Winter 2023) β€” any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.

GP

Their group partner at YC was Harj Taggar, General Partner at Y Combinator β€” the partner who ran Rainmaker's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile β†—

β†’

In turn, Brent can intro founders to Rainmaker's investors below.

Rainmaker's investors Β· 5

Champion Hill VenturesDay One VenturesLong Journey VenturesTamarack GlobalY Combinator

Co-founders at Rainmaker

CRCarlos Reyes Stoneham
Carlos Reyes StonehamFounder

Experience

  1. OpenAISoftware Engineercurrent2026 β€” present
  2. FigmaSoftware Engineer2026
  3. GatherStaff Engineer2024 β€” 2026Seattle, Washington, United States
  4. RainmakerCo-Founder2023 β€” 2024Seattle, Washington, United States
  5. HashflowVP of Engineering2022 β€” 2023Seattle, Washington, United States
  6. PinterestEngineering Manager2017 β€” 2022San Francisco, California, United States
  7. Ten Four Software, LLCFounder2016 β€” 2017Hayward, CA
  8. MicrosoftSenior Software Engineer2014 β€” 2016Redmond, WA
  9. Ten Four Software, LLCFounder2012 β€” 2014Bellevue, WA
  10. Apple Inc.Software Developer2009 β€” 2012Cupertino, California
  11. CampusRoostCTO, Co-founder2008 β€” 2009
  12. Coborn's, Inc.IT Support Specialist2005 β€” 2007
  13. University of Michigan - Center for Health Communications ResearchWeb Developer, IT Support Specialist2004 β€” 2007

Education

  1. University of MichiganBachelor of Engineering, Computer Science2004 β€” 2009

Skills & more

React.jsJavaScript7PHP1MySQL1CSS6jQuery1Objective-C1Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)1CryptoPeople ManagementCryptocurrencyweb 3
+12 moreSoftware DevelopmentTypeScriptProduct DevelopmentProduct DesignProduct MarketingFront-End DevelopmentProject ManagementMentorshipPlatform ArchitectureFront-end EngineeringBack-End Web DevelopmentWeb Development

From Brent's professional profile.

Founder mafias

Y Combinator mafia8,668

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Sam AltmanPresidentFounded LooptFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded CoinbaseMatt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded HotspotsTrae StephensYC Winter 2022Founded PursuitDelian AsparouhovYC Summer 2014Founded Nightingale +1Justin KanYC Winter 2018Founded Rye +3

+ 8,661 more

University of Michigan mafia114

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Erik TorenbergBachelor of Arts (B.A.)Founded VillageglobalChris VoigtBSEFounded Asimov +2David R. WaltBachelor of Science - BSFounded Vizgen +2Val AgostinoB.S.E.Founded Monarch +1Dillon ErbMaster of Architecture (M.Arch.)Founded Paperspace +1Daniel KobranMastersFounded Paperspace +1

+ 107 more

OpenAI mafia50

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Sean GroveMember of Technical StaffFounded Linzumi +2Matt KrisiloffFounding Team MemberFounded Preventive +1Tanooj LuthraMember of Technical StaffFounded Elph +1Brian BrunnerMember of Technical StaffFounded DataShare +1Michael DAngeloMember of Technical StaffFounded PromptFoo +1Abhijeet DwivediStrategic Deployment / AI TransformationFounded Central +1

+ 43 more

Gather mafia3

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Akshaj KadaveruSoftware EngineerFounded Breez LabsMichael SilverSoftware EngineerFounded Kaizen

Same school

Also attended University of Michigan493

Erik TorenbergGeneral Partner at Andreessen HorowitzKarim FarisInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Glen AndersonPartner at Monta Vista CapitalAlexandra FarmerPrincipal at Intel Capital, North AmericaHannah KrootMarketing Lead at Intel CapitalScott ShawChief of Staff at Intel Capital

+ 487 more

Shared employers

Also worked at Figma35

Danny RimerPartner at Index VenturesSarah GuoFounder & General Partner of ConvictionMamoon HamidPartner at Kleiner PerkinsDylan FieldCo-founder and CEO of FigmaGrey BakerGeneral Partner at Y CombinatorAjay VasheeInvestor at IVP (Institutional Venture Partners)

+ 29 more

Also worked at Gather3

Abhiram KumarPrincipal at B4 CapitalAkshaj KadaveruFounder at Breez LabsMichael SilverFounder at Kaizen

Also worked at Hashflow1

May LiuPartner at Spark Digital Capital

Also worked at Pinterest65

Sarah TavelVenture Partner at BenchmarkJeremy LevinePartner at Bessemer Venture PartnersSomnathTechnology Partner and Chief Data Scientist at Clear VenturesAnthony SoohooVenture Partner at Copper Sky CapitalAaron RuPrincipal at RET VenturesJeff ChangInvestor at Vertex Venture Management Pte. Ltd.

+ 59 more