David Lieb
InvestorFounderGeneral Partner at Y Combinator · Founder/CEO at Bump
Mountain View, California
Writes $10K – $50K checks · typically $25K
FoundedBump · YC
About
Co-founder and CEO of Bump (acquired by Google) and co-founder of Google Photos.
Invests in
AI & Machine LearningConsumer
Beyond investing
- Founded
- Lieb co-founded Bump, a mobile app used by more than 150 million people to share photos and contact info by bumping phones together. At Bump, Lieb's team launched Flock, a photo-sharing app, and later built an unreleased camera roll app called Photoroll that fed into Google Photos.
- Education
- Studied at Princeton (EE/CS degree, EE/CS) Studied at Stanford (EE/CS degree, EE/CS) Studied at Chicago Booth (MBA (unfinished, dropped out))
- Family
- Lieb became a new parent around the time he was diagnosed with leukemia.
- More
- Apple featured Bump in its 'There's an app for that' TV spot. Lieb was diagnosed with leukemia, stepped away from work to focus on treatment, and is now in remission. Lieb's first angel investment, in Ryan Peterson's Flexport, came after meeting Peterson at a wedding.
From David's own website — common ground for a warm intro.
Founder/CEO at BumpYC S09
Intro paths
David went through Y Combinator (Summer 2009) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
In turn, David can intro founders to Bump's investors below.
Bump's investors · 2
Co-founders at Bump
Experience
- Y CombinatorGeneral Partnercurrent2024 — present
- Y CombinatorVisiting Partner2022 — 2024
- 70+ startupsStartup Helper / Investorcurrent2013 — present
- TallyMember, Board of Directors2021 — 2024
- GoogleSenior Director, Google Photos2013 — 2022Mountain View, CA
- Bump Technologies (acquired by Google)Co-founder and CEO2008 — 2013
- Texas InstrumentsTechnology Strategist2007 — 2008
- Texas InstrumentsAlgorithm Engineer2001 — 2007
Education
- Stanford UniversityMSEE, Machine Learning and Computer Vision2003 — 2005
- Princeton UniversityBSEE, Electrical Engineering1999 — 2003
- The University of Chicago Booth School of Business1/2 MBA, Entrepreneurship2008 — 2009
Deals · 1
BumpLed round
via Y Combinator · filed Jun 2009
Attribution from SEC filings, press coverage, and firm rosters.
Other disclosed investments
Sources: the firm's website · curated public sources.
Podcasts & interviews
featuring David LiebDot Plots: How to Actually See What Your Users Are Doing
Startup School
AI Apps Are Broken — Here's How To Fix Them
The Breakdown
How AI Coding Agents Will Change Your Job
The Breakdown
How To Build The Future: Aravind Srinivas
How to Build the Future
Colleagues at Y Combinator
Network11
Investors connected to David in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is David Lieb?
- Co-founder and CEO of Bump (acquired by Google) and co-founder of Google Photos.
- Where does David Lieb work?
- David Lieb is Founder/CEO of Bump and General Partner at Y Combinator.
- What does David Lieb invest in?
- David Lieb invests in AI & Machine Learning, Consumer.
- What check size does David Lieb write?
- David Lieb typically writes checks of $10K – $50K.
- What companies did David Lieb found?
- David Lieb founded Bump.
- What companies has David Lieb invested in?
- Investments tracked here include Bump, Flexport, Rewind.ai, Rippling, Skydio, Tally.
- Where did David Lieb go to school?
- David Lieb studied at Stanford University (MSEE, Machine Learning and Computer Vision); Princeton University (BSEE, Electrical Engineering); The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (1/2 MBA, Entrepreneurship).
- Does David Lieb lead rounds?
- Yes — David Lieb has led 1 tracked investment.
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia8,773
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
+ 8,766 more
Stanford University mafia903
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
+ 896 more
Princeton University mafia160
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
+ 153 more
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business mafia53
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
+ 46 more
Same school
Also attended Stanford University2,000
+ 1,994 more
Also attended Princeton University559
+ 553 more
Also attended The University of Chicago Booth School of Business476
+ 470 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Y Combinator337
+ 331 more
Also worked at Tally5
Also worked at Google1,595
+ 1,589 more


































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