Brien Colwell
FounderFounder at BringYour · Founder at Headspin Exits false · Founder/CEO at Nextop
Redwood City, California, United States
Find your path to Brien
332 people in our graph share verified history with Brien — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Ryan IsonounlockedBrien: together at Sphere (2022)
Brien: together at University of Washington
×9Brien: together at Y Combinator
Brien: together at Quora
About
Brien Colwell is a co-founder and former CTO of HeadSpin, a global device infrastructure platform (2015–2022), and currently works on privacy and security. He studied human-computer interaction and has background as a startup engineer.
Founder at BringYour
Founder at Headspin Exits false
Intro paths
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In turn, Brien can intro founders to Headspin Exits false's investors below.
Headspin Exits false's investors · 11
Amino CapitalPalo Alto · $100K – $10M checksAtlassian Ventures$1M – $5M checksBlue CollectiveBrooklyn · $250K – $2M checksGreat Oaks Venture CapitalNew York · $50K – $500K checksGV (Google Ventures)Mountain View · $250K – $50M checks · since 2020ICONIQSan FranciscoInventus Capital PartnersSilicon Valley · $3M – $4M checksReshapeNew York · $100K – $2M checksSand Hill AngelsMenlo Park · $50K – $2M checksTitanium VenturesSydney Nsw · $5M – $10M checksWipro VenturesBengaluru · $1M – $10M checks
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Founder/CEO at NextopYC W15
Intro paths
YC
Brien went through Y Combinator (Winter 2015) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
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In turn, Brien can intro founders to Nextop's investors below.
Experience
- Defakto SecuritySoftware Engineercurrent2026 — present
- Forbes Technology CouncilMembercurrent2019 — present
- BringYourFounder2023 — 2026San Francisco Bay Area
- HeadSpinCo-Founder, Advisor2022 — 2023
- HeadSpinCTO, Co-Founder2015 — 2022Palo Alto, California, United States
- NextopFounder2014 — 2015Oakland, CA
- Talko Inc.Software Engineer2013 — 2014San Francisco, CA
- QuoraSoftware Engineer2011 — 2013Palo Alto, CA; Mountain View, CA
- Knoa SoftwareLead Engineer2009 — 2011NYC
- University of WashingtonResearcher2007 — 2008Seattle, WA
- Palantir TechnologiesSoftware Engineer2006 — 2007Palo Alto, CA
Skills & more
Instrumentation4Distributed Systems2Data Analysis1Backend Development3User Interface Programming2Interaction Design2Information Visualization2Tenacious Work Ethic2Software Engineering7Software Development5Mobile Applications2Algorithms2
+6 more
Mobile DevicesTest AutomationAndroidC++CSSPython (Programming Language)- Sun Certified Java Developer and Programmer — Sun Microsystems
- Principles of Reactive Programming — Coursera
From Brien's professional profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Brien Colwell?
- Brien Colwell is a co-founder and former CTO of HeadSpin, a global device infrastructure platform (2015–2022), and currently works on privacy and security. He studied human-computer interaction and has background as a startup engineer.
- Where does Brien Colwell work?
- Brien Colwell is Founder of BringYour and Co-founder at Headspin Exits false and Founder/CEO at Nextop.
- What companies did Brien Colwell found?
- Brien Colwell founded BringYour, Headspin Exits false, Nextop.
- Where did Brien Colwell go to school?
- Brien Colwell studied at University of California, Berkeley (Bachelor of Science (BS), EECS); Y Combinator (W15); New York University (Masters, Interactive Telecommunications (Tisch School of the Arts)).
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia10,230
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Sam AltmanPresidentFounded Tools for Humanity +3Garry TanPresident & CEOFounded Y Combinator +1Jessica LivingstonCo-founderFounded Y CombinatorAlexis OhanianPartnerFounded RedditFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded Nudge +1Matt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded Paradigm +1
+ 10,223 more
New York University mafia243
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Jonathan RossHonors Mathematics and Honors Computer ScienceFounded GroqRajiv KhemaniMSFounded Auradine +5Dennis CrowleyMPSFounded Street FC +3Uri LopatinResidencyFounded Assemblybio +2Ben ZisesReal Estate Finance and InvestmentFounded Superangelsyndicate +2🐯 Michael FreedmanPh.D.Founded Iobeam +2
+ 236 more
Sphere mafia2
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Same school
Also attended University of California, Berkeley2,000
Steve WozniakCo-founder of AppleTony XuCo-founder & CEO of DoorDashAravind SrinivasCo-founder & CEO of Perplexity AIAli GhodsiCo-founder & CEO of DatabricksAbraham BachrachCo-founder & CTO of SkydioTrevor OelschigInvestment Team at General Catalyst
+ 1,994 more
Also attended Y Combinator2,000
Tarek MansourCo-founder & CEO of KalshiSuhail DoshiFounder of Mixpanel; founder of ParticleSubomi OluwalanaCo-founder & CEO of ConvoyArhaan A.Deeptech Fellow at Clear VenturesCollin WallaceGeneral Partner at Lobby CapitalVictor SantosVictor Scout at One Way Ventures
+ 1,994 more
Also attended New York University722
Jonathan RossFounder of Groq; inventor of Google's TPU — now at NvidiaGabriella GiglioHR & Executive Talent at General CatalystAndrea EchstenkamperVP of Marketing at HeavybitRami BranitzkyPartner at Sapphire VenturesZach WhiteInvestment Team at 8VCAnkita TiwariPrograms Manager at StartX
+ 716 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Defakto Security1
Also worked at HeadSpin3
Also worked at Quora34
Alexandr WangCo-founder of Scale AI; Chief AI Officer at MetaLucy GuoCo-founder of Scale AI; founder & CEO of PassesHelen MinEarly-stage investor and marketing advisor to startupsSarah SmithFounder & Managing Partner at Sarah SmithTiantian FangInvestor at Nava VenturesJessica ShamboraPartner at MKT1 Capital
+ 28 more
Also worked at University of Washington203
Mike FridgenVenture Partner at Madrona Venture GroupSid ShenaiVenture partner at Madrona and co-founder and CEO of Proof DiagnosticsPaul JennyBoard Chair at CincyTechJason PrestonInvestor at Alsop Louie PartnersElliot HershbergScientist, Writer, and Investor on a mission to accelerate The Century of BiologyLuke RigganAssociate at Amplify Partners
+ 197 more