Fundraising Fox

Brian Acton

Co-founder of WhatsApp; co-founder of Signal Foundation

Palo Alto, CA

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

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.

Experience

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

Education

  1. Stanford UniversityBS, Computer Science1991 — 1994
  2. University of PennsylvaniaEconomics, Computer Science1990 — 1991
  3. University of Central FloridaNon Degree Seeking, Engineering1988

Skills & more

Perl57Erlang3PHP17Oracle7MySQL31Python21Java18C10C++12FreeBSD5Linux28Android8
+2 moreApacheEmacs

Languages Spanish

From Brian's professional profile.

Network1

Freada Kapor KleinScout
Founding Partner at Kapor Capital

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

Frequently asked questions

What check size does Brian Acton write?
Brian Acton typically writes checks of $100K – $5M.

Paths to reach Brian

People who overlapped with Brian at the same organization — a shared school or employer with one of them is a warm way in.

Together at AppleBrian: Hardware Test Engineer

Reid Hoffman1994–1996Co-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockBabson College · The Putney School · Università degli Studi di PerugiaSteve Jurvetson1994Co-founder of Future VenturesSt. Mark's School of Texas · Stanford University Graduate School of BusinessKai-Fu Lee1993–1996Chairman of Sinovation Ventures and CEO of 01.AIColumbia UniversitySteve Wozniak1993–1996Co-founder of AppleUniversity of California, Berkeley · University of Colorado BoulderNicolas Metzke1995–1996Investor at DaphniUniversity of MannheimAnthony Soohoo1993–1996Venture Partner at Copper Sky CapitalUniversity of California, Davis

Together at WhatsApp Inc.Brian: Cofounder

Jim Goetz2011–2015Partner at Sequoia CapitalUniversity of CincinnatiNeeraj Arora2011–2017All things business at WhatsApp; formerly M&A lead at Google for Local, Social and MobileIndian Institute of Technology, Delhi · Indian School of BusinessAnton Borzov2009–2017Lead Partner at StratMindsDnipropetrovs'kij Nacional'nij UniversitetKatya Skorobogatova2014–2017Operating Partner - Growth at TheVentureCityNew York University · Saint Petersburg State UniversityHelen Chen2015–2017Vice President at DST GlobalBrown University · Stanford University Graduate School of BusinessEthan Yu2014Investor at Motion Technology PartnersDartmouth College

Together at AdobeBrian: QA Engineer

Pat Lor1994Venture Partner at Panache VenturesUniversity of CalgaryBruce Chizen1994Strategic Advisor at Voyager CapitalFrits Habermann1994Partner at FounderPartnersStanford University Graduate School of Business · University of WashingtonGavriella Schuster1994Advisor, WRG Technology Sector at WestRiver GroupRensselaer Polytechnic Institute · University of Michigan

Together at Rockwell InternationalBrian: Systems Administrator

Chris Grant1992–1993Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President, The Permanente Federation LLC at Kaiser Permanente VenturesUC Santa Barbara · UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

Together at Stanford UniversityBrian: BS

Paul Kwan1992–1994Investment Team at General CatalystPaul Barber1991–1994Senior Advisor at JMI EquityMiriam Rivera1991–1994Cofounder, Managing Director at Ulu VenturesStanford Law SchoolClint Korver1991–1994Cofounder, Managing Director at Ulu VenturesGrinnell College · Kauffman Fellows ProgramJocelyn Goldfein1993–1994Investor at Zetta Venture PartnersPalo Alto High SchoolHoward Wolf1991–1994Investor at Streamlined Ventures

Same school

Also attended Stanford University2,000

Peter ThielCo-founder & Partner at Founders FundReid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockDavid SacksCo-founder & General Partner at Craft Ventures; former White House AI & Crypto CzarKeith RaboisManaging Director at Khosla VenturesGarry TanPresident & CEO of Y CombinatorAlfred LinPartner at Sequoia Capital

+ 1,994 more

Also attended University of Pennsylvania767

Kunal BahlCo-founder of Snapdeal; co-founder of Titan CapitalDasha MaggioPartner at Felicis Ventures, writer on venture capital and founder psychologyNancy WangInvestor at Felicis VenturesLeah von SiemensPartner at Manta Ray VenturesEghosa OmoiguiFounder and Managing General Partner at EchoVC PartnersAkshat GoenkaInvestor at Moonfire Ventures

+ 761 more

Also attended University of Central Florida34

Tina VinodAssociate at Differential VenturesBrandon ReevesPartner at Lux CapitalRob PurintonChief Artificial Intelligence Officer at Flare Capital PartnersAshley SaebResearch Analyst and Operation Support at Autotech VenturesBrittany MolerMarketing & Biz Ops at Vocap PartnersJason EichenholzFounder and Chairman, Jonathan's Landing Foundation at AIF

+ 28 more

Shared employers

Also worked at WhatsApp Inc.13

Jim GoetzPartner at Sequoia CapitalNeeraj AroraAll things business at WhatsApp; formerly M&A lead at Google for Local, Social and MobileAnton BorzovLead Partner at StratMindsSummer KimLead Partner at StratMindsKatya SkorobogatovaOperating Partner - Growth at TheVentureCityHelen ChenVice President at DST Global

+ 7 more

Also worked at Yahoo! Inc.284

Jess LeePartner and Chief Product Officer at Sequoia CapitalMike SpeiserManaging Director at Sutter Hill VenturesStewart ButterfieldCo-founder of Slack and FlickrMax LevchinCo-founder of PayPal; founder & CEO of AffirmAmjad MasadCo-founder & CEO of ReplitFrédérique DameInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)

+ 278 more

Also worked at Apple Computer462

Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockJim BreyerFounder & CEO of Breyer CapitalDaniel GrossMeta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDG and Safe SuperintelligenceSteve JurvetsonCo-founder of Future VenturesKai-Fu LeeChairman of Sinovation Ventures and CEO of 01.AISteve WozniakCo-founder of Apple

+ 456 more

Also worked at Adobe121

Louise TomlinsonInvestor at Reinventure GroupAditya ReddyVice President at Sapphire VenturesSydney SloanChief Marketing Officer at Scale Venture PartnersJeff VeenDesigner and investor in London, United KingdomErika NashInvestor at Next Frontier CapitalDavid MackayD9Y at Mucker Capital

+ 115 more