Where does Brian Acton work?

Brian Acton is Founder of Whatsapp Community.

What check size does Brian Acton write?

Brian Acton typically writes checks of $100K – $5M.

What companies did Brian Acton found?

Brian Acton founded Whatsapp Community.

Where did Brian Acton go to school?

Brian Acton studied at Stanford University (BS, Computer Science); University of Pennsylvania (Economics, Computer Science); University of Central Florida (Non Degree Seeking, Engineering).

Brian Acton

Founder

Founder at Whatsapp Community

Palo Alto, CA

Writes $100K – $5M checks · typically $1.5M

FoundedWhatsapp Community

Find your path to Brian

586 people in our graph share verified history with Brian — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Paul KwanunlockedBrian: together at Stanford University (1992–1994)

×7Brian: together at Stanford University

Brian: together at University of Pennsylvania

Brian: together at WHATS APP

About

Brian Acton co-founded WhatsApp with Jan Koum in 2009 and sold it to Facebook in 2014 for about $19B, after both had been rejected for jobs at Facebook and Twitter. He left in 2017, forfeiting a reported $850M in unvested equity, and put $50M into founding the Signal Foundation, which he chairs — making the encrypted messenger a nonprofit rather than a venture-funded company. He publicly urged users to delete Facebook in 2018.

Beyond investing

Founded: Co-founded the messaging app WhatsApp in 2009. Co-founded the Signal Foundation with Moxie Marlinspike in February 2018.
Charities: Invested $50 million of his own money to start the nonprofit Signal Foundation.

From Brian's own website — common ground for a warm intro.

Founder at Whatsapp Community

Intro paths

→

In turn, Brian can intro founders to Whatsapp Community's investors below.

Whatsapp Community's investors · 15

Angel ClubSilicon Valley · $10K – $150K checks Avant LabsBangkok BlackRockWilmington Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures FYNSA Private CapitalSantiago HelicapSingapore · $200K checks Investidores.VCSao Paulo Isaac Lidsky Moore Multi Family OfficeMonaco Plus Ultra Capital Partners$2M – $25M checks RaisonAstana · $200K – $400K checks Sequoia CapitalMenlo Park · $4.4M – $214M checks Serpentine VenturesZurich StartCoMedellín ValidusSingapore

Co-founders at Whatsapp Community

Jan KoumFounder

Experience

Signal FoundationExecutive Chairmancurrent2018 — presentUnited States
WhatsApp Inc.Cofounder2009 — 2017Mountain View, California, USA
Yahoo! Inc.Vice President of Engineering2006 — 2007
Yahoo! Inc.Senior Director of Engineering - Yahoo Search Marketing2005 — 2006
Yahoo! Inc.Senior Director of Engineering - Yahoo Marketplace2004 — 2005
Yahoo! Inc.Director of Engineering - Yahoo Shopping, Yahoo Travel2003 — 2004
Yahoo!Director of Engineering - Yahoo Shopping2002
Yahoo!Principal Software Engineer - Yahoo Shopping1999 — 2002
Yahoo!Senior Software Engineer - Yahoo Operations1998 — 1999
Yahoo!Software Engineer - Yahoo Advertising and Data Processing1996 — 1998
Apple ComputerSoftware Engineer1994 — 1996
AdobeQA Engineer1994
AppleHardware Test Engineer1993 — 1994
Rockwell InternationalSystems Administrator1992 — 1993Palo Alto, CA

Skills & more

Perl57Erlang3PHP17Oracle7MySQL31Python21Java18C10C++12FreeBSD5Linux28Android8

+2 more

ApacheEmacs

Languages Spanish

From Brian's professional profile.

Podcasts & interviews

featuring Brian Acton

From Rejection to $19 Billion: The Brian Acton WhatsApp Story

SeekaHost

Signal co-founder Brian Acton in talks with ET Now | StartUpCentral | EXCLUSIVE

ET Now

Signal And WhatsApp Co-Founder Brian Acton On How The Two Measure Up

NDTV

"Where Signal Scores Over WhatsApp": Co-Founder Brian Acton To NDTV

NDTV

Success Stories - Brian Acton | The Influencer Project

Rana Saini

WhatsApp Co-Founder Brian Acton On What's Next For The Messaging Platform

TECHie · youtube.com

Network1

Freada Kapor KleinScout

Founding Partner at Kapor Capital

Investors connected to Brian in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Brian Acton?: Brian Acton co-founded WhatsApp with Jan Koum in 2009 and sold it to Facebook in 2014 for about $19B, after both had been rejected for jobs at Facebook and Twitter. He left in 2017, forfeiting a reported $850M in unvested equity, and put $50M into founding the Signal Foundation, which he chairs — making the encrypted messenger a nonprofit rather than a venture-funded company. He publicly urged users to delete Facebook in 2018.
Where does Brian Acton work?: Brian Acton is Founder of Whatsapp Community.
What check size does Brian Acton write?: Brian Acton typically writes checks of $100K – $5M.
What companies did Brian Acton found?: Brian Acton founded Whatsapp Community.
Where did Brian Acton go to school?: Brian Acton studied at Stanford University (BS, Computer Science); University of Pennsylvania (Economics, Computer Science); University of Central Florida (Non Degree Seeking, Engineering).
What podcasts and interviews feature Brian Acton?: Tracked appearances include "From Rejection to $19 Billion: The Brian Acton WhatsApp Story", "Signal co-founder Brian Acton in talks with ET Now | StartUpCentral | EXCLUSIVE", "Signal And WhatsApp Co-Founder Brian Acton On How The Two Measure Up", and 3 more.

Founder mafias

Stanford University mafia1,932

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Peter ThielJ.D.Founded PayPal +1 Reid HoffmanB.S.Founded LinkedIn +2 David SacksB.A.Founded Yammer Keith RaboisB.A.Founded Opendoor Garry TanBSFounded Y Combinator +1 Joe LonsdaleBSFounded Opto +5

+ 1,925 more

Apple mafia306

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Steve JurvetsonProduct MarketingFounded Future Ventures +1 Kai-Fu LeeVice president (last job)Founded 01 IanUser Experience and EngineeringFounded Apex Technology +3 Jon LernerSoftware Engineer (Intern)Founded Textnow +2 Brian BrackeenSr. Project ManagerFounded Lightship +1 Jeff SeibertCampus Rep, Stanford UniversityFounded Crashlytics +1

+ 299 more

University of Central Florida mafia34

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Jason DunnBSFounded Outpost Technologies +3 Jason EichenholzM.S.Founded AireHealth +2 Alain RodriguezBachelor of ScienceFounded SINAI Technologies Inc. +2 Musawir ShahPhDFounded Jerry +1 Gordon Hirsch WilsonTransient CourseworkFounded Rain AI +1 David CohenAssociate of Arts - AAFounded Techstars

+ 27 more

WHATS APP mafia12

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Vic YehSoftware Engineer InternFounded Oyster +1 Ethan YuSoftware EngineerFounded Motion Jon ShellerSoftware Engineering ManagerFounded Purpose Finance Michelle YinSoftware EngineerFounded Housewarming Tolu AlabiGrowth (MBA Intern)Founded Cleva Tyler LehmanProduct ManagerFounded OpenFoundry

+ 5 more

Same school

Also attended Stanford University2,000

Peter ThielCo-founder & Partner at Founders Fund Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at Greylock David SacksCo-founder & General Partner at Craft Ventures; former White House AI & Crypto Czar Keith RaboisManaging Director at Khosla Ventures Garry TanPresident & CEO of Y Combinator Alfred LinPartner at Sequoia Capital

+ 1,994 more

Also attended University of Pennsylvania1,233

Kunal BahlCo-founder of Snapdeal; co-founder of Titan Capital Dasha MaggioPartner at Felicis Ventures, writer on venture capital and founder psychology Nancy WangInvestor at Felicis Ventures Leah von SiemensPartner at Manta Ray Ventures Eghosa OmoiguiFounder and Managing General Partner at EchoVC Partners Akshat GoenkaInvestor at Moonfire Ventures

+ 1,227 more

Also attended University of Central Florida74

Tina VinodAssociate at Differential Ventures Brandon ReevesPartner at Lux Capital Rob PurintonChief Artificial Intelligence Officer at Flare Capital Partners Ashley SaebResearch Analyst and Operation Support at Autotech Ventures Brittany MolerMarketing & Biz Ops at Vocap Partners Jason EichenholzFounder and Chairman, Jonathan's Landing Foundation at AIF

+ 68 more

Shared employers

Also worked at WhatsApp Inc.17

Jim GoetzPartner at Sequoia Capital Neeraj AroraAll things business at WhatsApp; formerly M&A lead at Google for Local, Social and Mobile Anton BorzovLead Partner at StratMinds Summer KimLead Partner at StratMinds Helen ChenVice President at DST Global Ethan YuInvestor at Motion Technology Partners

+ 11 more

Also worked at Yahoo! Inc.436

Jess LeePartner and Chief Product Officer at Sequoia Capital Mike SpeiserManaging Director at Sutter Hill Ventures Stewart ButterfieldCo-founder of Slack and Flickr Max LevchinCo-founder of PayPal; founder, chairman & CEO of Affirm; partner at SciFi VC Amjad MasadCo-founder & CEO of Replit Frédérique DameInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)

+ 430 more

Also worked at Apple Computer677

Jim BreyerFounder & CEO of Breyer Capital Daniel GrossMeta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDG and Safe Superintelligence Steve JurvetsonCo-founder of Future Ventures Kai-Fu LeeChairman of Sinovation Ventures and CEO of 01.AI Steve WozniakCo-founder of Apple Marc BenioffCo-founder, Chair & CEO of Salesforce

+ 671 more

Also worked at Adobe200

Louise TomlinsonInvestor at Reinventure Group Aditya ReddyVice President at Sapphire Ventures Jeff VeenDesigner and investor in London, United Kingdom Erika NashInvestor at Next Frontier Capital Michael MignanoGeneral Partner at Union Square Ventures (USV)David MackayD9Y at Mucker Capital

+ 194 more