David Ferris

Experience

1. OpenAIMember of Technical Staffcurrent2026 — present
2. South Park CommonsResearch2025 — 2026
3. PlaygroundProduct Engineer2023 — 2025
4. PhonicCo-Founder & CEO2020 — 2023
5. UberSoftware Engineer2019San Francisco, California
6. GoogleSoftware Engineer2018New York
7. AthosData Scientist2017Redwood City
8. CIBCSoftware Developer2016Toronto, ON
9. WeMeshAndroid Developer2016Waterloo, ON
10. FiftyThree Inc.Mobile Device Intern2015Seattle, WA
11. Devils Glen Country ClubSki Racing Coach2012 — 2013

Education

1. Y CombinatorW202020
2. Hult Ashridge Executive EducationHult Prize, United Nations Finalist2019
3. University of WaterlooBachelor’s Degree, Mechatronics2014 — 2019
4. Crescent School2011 — 2014

Skills & more

• Moving Water II (Whitewater Certification) — ORCKA
• Open Water Diver — PADI
• SQL for Data Science — Coursera
• Deep Learning Specialization — Coursera

From David's professional profile.

Founder mafias

Y Combinator mafia8,668

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

SASam AltmanPresidentFounded LooptFEFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded CoinbaseMHMatt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded HotspotsTSTrae StephensYC Winter 2022Founded PursuitDADelian AsparouhovYC Summer 2014Founded Nightingale +1JKJustin KanYC Winter 2018Founded Rye +3

+ 8,661 more

University of Waterloo mafia183

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

OKOleg KostourHonours Bachelor of Architectural StudiesFounded AtlasGrid +1AKAnton KrutianskyBachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.)Founded AtlasGrid +1EMEric MigicovskyBachelor of EngineeringFounded Beeper +1KLKevin LiengineeringFounded jo +1EBEric BlondeelBAScFounded Samos Insurance +1MMMike MillerFounded Epoch +1

+ 176 more

Uber mafia147

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

BBBastien BeurierSoftware EngineerFounded Lantern +1MMMike MahlkowOperations and Business DevelopmentFounded Fastgen +1CCCharlie CorreaSenior Operations ManagerFounded Luable +1KAKhalid AshmawySenior Tech Lead ManagerFounded Munify +1EPEdgar PavlovskyData ScienceFounded MRGN +1AKAli KashaniHead of Serve RoboticsFounded Serve Robotics

+ 140 more

OpenAI mafia50

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

SGSean GroveMember of Technical StaffFounded Linzumi +2MKMatt KrisiloffFounding Team MemberFounded Preventive +1TLTanooj LuthraMember of Technical StaffFounded Elph +1BBBrian BrunnerMember of Technical StaffFounded DataShare +1MDMichael DAngeloMember of Technical StaffFounded PromptFoo +1ADAbhijeet DwivediStrategic Deployment / AI TransformationFounded Central +1

+ 43 more

South Park Commons mafia37

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

KQKanjun QiuMemberFounded Imbue +1SCSheridan ClayborneMemberFounded Lendtable +1SOSam OdioHusband, Father, and SPC MemberFounded Divvyshot +1KQKanjun QiuMemberFounded Imbue +1ADAtray DixitMemberFounded Oncko +1CAChase AdamMemberFounded Watsi

+ 30 more

Same school

Also attended Y Combinator2,000

LLLeo LuInvestor at Foundation CapitalMAMaroof AhmedFounder at Octopus VenturesJSJustin SwartPartner at Bitkraft Esports VenturesVSVictor SantosVictor Scout at One Way VenturesSJSwapnil JainCEO, Observe.AI at EMERGENT VENTURESCAChase AdamPartner at Very Serious Ventures

+ 1,994 more

Also attended Hult Ashridge Executive Education14

NANora AlsarhanCEO at SVCTWTim Wynn-JonesHead of New Product and Investor Relations at Blackfinch VenturesAKAlice KoInvestment Partner at Joyance PartnersAGAlasdair GreigDirector at Northstar VenturesNNickInvestor at Saint Leonard S.A.MGMarian GazdikFounding Partner at G-Force

+ 8 more

Also attended University of Waterloo343

CPChamath PalihapitiyaFounder & CEO of Social CapitalKGKarim GillaniGeneral Partner at Luge CapitalRMRohan MongaInvestment Associate at Luge CapitalAMAndrew MiklasGeneral Partner at Y CombinatorAAniTalent Team at Hummingbird VenturesAKAlex KolicichInvestment Team at 8VC

+ 337 more

Shared employers

Also worked at South Park Commons59

CAChase AdamPartner at Very Serious VenturesAPAndrew ParkerGeneral Partner at Spero VenturesKFKelsey FloresChief Financial Officer at Slipstream InvestorsJRJaclyn Rice NelsonCo-founder and part-time GP at Coalition OperatorsBCBala ChandrasekaranPartner at Alt CapitalRSRuchi SanghviPartner and Founding Member at South Park Commons

+ 53 more

Also worked at Uber366

BGBill GurleyGeneral Partner Emeritus at BenchmarkJCJason CalacanisFounder of LAUNCH; host of This Week in StartupsACAndrew ChenGeneral Partner at Andreessen HorowitzFDFrédérique DameInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)NLNic LowdenInvestor at Moonfire VenturesAKAnnie KadavyVenture Partner at Redpoint Ventures

+ 360 more

Also worked at Google1,533

RCRon ConwayFounder of SV AngelEGElad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil CapitalBSBrian SingermanCo-founder of GPx; Partner Emeritus at Founders FundJLJess LeePartner and Chief Product Officer at Sequoia CapitalTTTomasz TunguzFounder & General Partner at Theory VenturesHWHunter WalkCo-founder & Partner at Homebrew

+ 1,527 more

Also worked at CIBC35

RMRohan MongaInvestment Associate at Luge CapitalLSLaura SageDirector, Marketing & Investor Relations at Windham Capital PartnersRSRichard SobelPartner, Strategic Development at Polymorphic CapitalIGIdo GileadiExecutive Advisor at Team8CAChris AngelatosDirector at Vistara GrowthJLJoshuah LebacqPrincipal at NAventures

+ 29 more