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Dawson Chen

Founder

Founder at Letterbook

San Francisco, California, United States

FoundedLetterbook · YC

Find your path to Dawson

1,187 people in our graph share verified history with Dawson — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Paul KwanunlockedDawson: together at Stanford University (2020)

Dawson: together at Yale University

×7Dawson: together at Y Combinator

Dawson: together at NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

About

Dawson Chen dropped out of Yale and now leads Letterbook as CEO.

Founder at Letterbook YC S23

Intro paths

YC

Dawson went through Y Combinator (Summer 2023) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.

GP

Their group partner at YC was Jared Friedman, YC Group Partner — the partner who ran Letterbook's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗

→

In turn, Dawson can intro founders to Letterbook's investors below.

Letterbook's investors · 1

Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K checks · since 2023

Co-founders at Letterbook

EH

Ethan Hou

Ethan HouFounder

Experience

LetterbookCo-founder & CEOcurrent2025 — presentSan Francisco, California, United States
MartinCo-Founder & CEOcurrent2023 — presentSan Francisco, California, United States
Y CombinatorS23 Batch2023
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationCitizen Scientist2020 — 2021
Stanford UniversityResearch Intern2020

Skills & more

Swift (Programming Language)1Front-End Development2Software Development1Software Design1

Languages Chinese · English · Japanese

From Dawson's professional profile.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Dawson Chen?: Dawson Chen dropped out of Yale and now leads Letterbook as CEO.
Where does Dawson Chen work?: Dawson Chen is Founder of Letterbook.
What companies did Dawson Chen found?: Dawson Chen founded Letterbook.
Where did Dawson Chen go to school?: Dawson Chen studied at Y Combinator (S23); Yale University (Bachelor of Science - BS, Computer Science and Economics); The Harker School.

Founder mafias

Y Combinator mafia10,230

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Sam AltmanPresidentFounded Tools for Humanity +3 Garry TanPresident & CEOFounded Y Combinator +1 Jessica LivingstonCo-founderFounded Y Combinator Alexis OhanianPartnerFounded Reddit Fred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded Nudge +1 Matt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded Paradigm +1

+ 10,223 more

Stanford University mafia1,934

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Peter ThielB.A.Founded PayPal Reid HoffmanB.S.Founded LinkedIn +2 David SacksB.A.Founded Yammer Keith RaboisB.A.Founded Opendoor Garry TanBSFounded Y Combinator +1 Joe LonsdaleBSFounded Opto +5

+ 1,927 more

Yale University mafia373

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Michael SeibelBAFounded SocialCam Ben SilbermannB.A.Founded Audiobeta +2 Justin KanPhysics and PhilosophyFounded Stash +6 Jonathan RothbergDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)Founded Raindance Technologies +4 Donald IngberM. Phil.Founded Unravel Biosciences +3 Kevin RyanBAFounded Transcend Therapeutics +2

+ 366 more

The Harker School mafia35

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Neil MovvaFounded Sail Research +1 Surbhi SarnaFounded Nvision Medical +1 Anita ModiFounded Peer AI +1 Omar El-AyatFounded Euclid Josh ZloofFounded Sudden Coffee Peter GaoFounded Aquarium Learning

+ 28 more

Same school

Also attended Y Combinator2,000

Ryan SheaCo-founder of Blockstack (Stacks)Suhail DoshiFounder of Mixpanel; founder of Particle Arhaan A.Deeptech Fellow at Clear Ventures Akshat GoenkaInvestor at Moonfire Ventures Jon XuGeneral Partner at Y Combinator Chris GoldaGeneral Partner at Y Combinator

+ 1,994 more

Also attended Yale University1,072

Ann Miura-KoCo-founding Partner at Floodgate David SzeAdvisory Partner at Greylock Michael SeibelPartner Emeritus at Y Combinator Ben SilbermannCo-founder of Pinterest Zheela QaiserInvestor at Index Ventures Anthony PhilippakisInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)

+ 1,066 more

Also attended The Harker School60

Neil MehtaCo-founder & Managing Partner at Greenoaks Chiraag DeoraPrincipal at Greycroft Josephine ChenInvestor at Sequoia Capital Sonya HuangPartner at Sequoia Capital Tiffany YuPrincipal at 7wire Ventures Ajay KamatPartner at Pear VC

+ 54 more

Shared employers

Also worked at Letterbook1

Ethan HouFounder at Letterbook

Also worked at Y Combinator427

Garry TanPresident & CEO of Y Combinator Jessica LivingstonCo-founder of Y Combinator Daniel GrossMeta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDG and Safe Superintelligence Alexis OhanianFounder & General Partner of Seven Seven Six Michael SeibelPartner Emeritus at Y Combinator Dalton CaldwellCo-founder of Standard Capital; Partner Emeritus at Y Combinator

+ 421 more

Also worked at NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration176

Sai SenthilkumarPartner at Redpoint Ventures Joe FlahertyDirector, Content & Community at Founder Collective Jim BridenstineManaging Partner, Artemis Group at Cortado Ventures Gabe ShermanPresident, Artemis Group at Cortado Ventures Linda CuretonBoard Member at Maryland TEDCO Omar PimentelDirector of Frontier Strategy at Type One Ventures

+ 170 more

Also worked at Stanford University1,146

Ann Miura-KoCo-founding Partner at Floodgate Balaji SrinivasanAngel investor and founder of The Network School Martin CasadoGeneral Partner at Andreessen Horowitz Mike KriegerCo-founder of Instagram; Chief Product Officer at Anthropic Andy FangCo-founder & CTO of DoorDash Ryan SheaCo-founder of Blockstack (Stacks)

+ 1,140 more