Where does Brian Acton work?

Brian Acton is Founder of WhatsApp.

What check size does Brian Acton write?

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

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

Palo Alto, CA

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

FoundedWhatsApp

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You →Jim · together at WHATS APP (2011–2015) →Brian

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You →Sam · together at Rockwell International →Brian

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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

Intro paths

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

WhatsApp's investors · 14

Angel ClubSilicon Valley · $10K – $150K checks Avant LabsBangkok BlackRockMexico City Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures FYNSA Private CapitalSantiago HelicapSingapore · $200K checks Investidores.VCSao Paulo Isaac Lidsky Plus Ultra Capital Partners$2M – $25M checks RaisonAstana · $200K – $400K checks Sequoia CapitalMenlo Park · $4.4M – $214M checks Serpentine VenturesZürich StartCoCiudad de México ValidusSingapore

Co-founders at WhatsApp

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.
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.
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.

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Same school

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Peter ThielCo-founder & Partner at Founders Fund David SacksCo-founder & General Partner at Craft Ventures; former White House AI & Crypto Czar Garry TanPresident & CEO of Y Combinator Alfred LinPartner at Sequoia Capital Jim BreyerFounder & CEO of Breyer Capital Mike Maples JrCo-founding Partner at Floodgate

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Shared employers

Also worked at WhatsApp Inc.19

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 Katya SkorobogatovaOperating Partner - Growth at TheVentureCity Helen ChenVice President at DST Global

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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

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