About
Carl Stauffer is the founder and CEO of Riften, which routes requests between applications and language model APIs to lower inference costs. He previously worked as a Forward Deployed Engineer at Palantir and as a nuclear researcher at Jefferson Lab, and studied computer science and applied mathematics at Johns Hopkins.
Founder at RiftenYC S26
Intro paths
YC
Carl went through Y Combinator (Summer 2026) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
GP
Their group partner at YC was Harshita Arora, General Partner at Y Combinator — the partner who ran Riften's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗
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In turn, Carl can intro founders to Riften's investors below.
Riften's investors · 1
Experience
- RiftenFoundercurrent2026 — present
- Andreessen HorowitzScoutcurrent2026 — present
- Palantir TechnologiesForward Deployed Engineer2026New York City Metropolitan Area
- Various CompaniesSWE/Growth2025San Francisco, California, United States
- James City CountyCouncil Representative2022 — 2025Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
- Brantingham ManufacturingData Science Researcher2024Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
- Jefferson LabNuclear Fusion Researcher2024Newport News, Virginia, United States
- Colonial Williamsburg FoundationSenior Corps Fifer2017 — 2024Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
- Kingswood PoolAssociate Coach2022 — 2023Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
Skills & more
- Intro to Machine Learning — Kaggle
- Deep Dive: Building Your First Pipeline — Palantir Technologies
- Speedrun: Creating Your First Data Connection — Palantir Technologies
- Deep Dive: Transforming your data with Code Repositories — Palantir Technologies
- Introduction to Foundry & AIP for Enterprise Organizations — Palantir Technologies
- Speedrun: Your First Agentic AIP Workflow — Palantir Technologies
- Foundry & AIP Builder Foundations — Palantir Technologies
From Carl's professional profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Carl Stauffer?
- Carl Stauffer is the founder and CEO of Riften, which routes requests between applications and language model APIs to lower inference costs. He previously worked as a Forward Deployed Engineer at Palantir and as a nuclear researcher at Jefferson Lab, and studied computer science and applied mathematics at Johns Hopkins.
- Where does Carl Stauffer work?
- Carl Stauffer is Founder of Riften.
- What companies did Carl Stauffer found?
- Carl Stauffer founded Riften.
- Where did Carl Stauffer go to school?
- Carl Stauffer studied at The Johns Hopkins University (Computer Science, Applied Mathematics and Statistics); Hampton Roads Academy.
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia9,496
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Sam AltmanPresidentFounded Tools for Humanity +3Garry TanPresident & CEOFounded Y Combinator +1Jessica LivingstonCo-founderFounded Y CombinatorAlexis OhanianYC Summer 2005Founded RedditFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded Nudge +1Matt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded Hotspots
+ 9,489 more
The Johns Hopkins University mafia99
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Dave JohnsonMaster's degreeFounded Dash BioChristoph LengauerPostdocFounded Celsius Therapeutics +2Anne OsdoitMaster of Science (MS)Founded Moon Surgical +2Andrew LevyBachelor of Science (B.S.)Founded Apteligent +2Gorkem SevincMSEFounded Facet +2Matt MichelsonB.S.Founded Evid Science +1
+ 92 more
Andreessen Horowitz mafia57
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Ben HorowitzCo-founder & General PartnerFounded OpswareChris DixonGeneral Partner; Founder of a16z cryptoFounded Hunch +1Balaji SrinivasanGeneral PartnerFounded Counsyl +1Erik TorenbergGeneral PartnerFounded VillageglobalSurojit ChatterjeeExecutive in ResidenceFounded Ema +1Matthieu HafemeisterPartner – Fintech InvestingFounded Concourse +1
+ 50 more
Same school
Also attended The Johns Hopkins University363
Dave JohnsonCo-founder & CEO of Dash BioNicole GaudelliEntrepreneur in Residence at GV (Google Ventures)Wes NicholsPartner at March Capital PartnersDemi ObayomiPrincipal at Sapphire VenturesJun JeonInvestor at Khosla VenturesNicole FraenkelInvestor at Khosla Ventures
+ 357 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Palantir Technologies249
Garry TanPresident & CEO of Y CombinatorJoe LonsdaleFounder & Managing Partner of 8VC; co-founder of Palantir and AddeparTrae StephensPartner at Founders Fund and co-founder of AndurilTarek MansourCo-founder & CEO of KalshiViviana FagaGeneral Partner at Felicis VenturesBryan OffuttInvestor at Index Ventures
+ 243 more
Also worked at Various Companies237
Leonard PicardoAdvisor at Manta Ray VenturesBen PerryInvestor at MedicxiHector MasonGeneral Partner at Episode1Danielle AbdelahadInvestor at Third Rock VenturesSiddharth RamakrishnanPrincipal at Scale Venture PartnersTroy A. LeMaile-StovallCEO at Maryland TEDCO
+ 231 more
