Fundraising Fox

Jake Stein

Founder

Founder at Common Paper

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

FoundedCommon Paper Β· YC

About

Jake Stein is co-founder and CEO of Common Paper. He previously co-founded RJMetrics, which was acquired by Magento and later Adobe, and Stitch, which was acquired by Talend. Earlier in his career, he worked in venture capital and launched a landscaping business.

LinkedIn β†—X / Twitter β†—
Latest on 𝕏

Jake Stein @jakestein

Then marketing asked for customer success stories. I realized we'd built almost no system for collecting feedback from the people who stayed. Now we're putting just as much effort into learning from happy customers.

Jul 29, 2026

Jake Stein @jakestein

YC teaches founders to obsess over users. I took that literally. Whenever someone canceled, they got a personal email from me asking why. Their feedback went into Slack for the whole team. Over the years, we built a great machine for learning from unhappy customers. https://t.co/rwcjrRXqJ1

Jul 29, 2026

Jake Stein @jakestein

and even wished me a happy Father's Day. I didn't realize how much friction I'd accepted until someone built a dramatically better product. Crowded and solved are very different things.

Jul 27, 2026

Founder at Common PaperYC W23

Intro paths

YC

Jake went through Y Combinator (Winter 2023) β€” any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.

GP

Their group partner at YC was Aaron Epstein, General Partner at Y Combinator β€” the partner who ran Common Paper's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile β†—

β†’

In turn, Jake can intro founders to Common Paper's investors below.

Common Paper's investors Β· 3

boldstart venturesUncork CapitalY Combinator

Co-founders at Common Paper

BGBenjamin Garvey
Benjamin GarveyFounder

Experience

  1. Common PaperCo-founder & CEOcurrent2021 β€” presentPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  2. TalendSVP of Growth2020Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  3. TalendSVP of Stitch2018 β€” 2020Greater Philadelphia
  4. Stitch, Inc. (Acquired by Talend)Co-founder & CEO2016 β€” 2018Greater Philadelphia
  5. RJMetrics (acquired by Magento Commerce)Co-founder & COO2008 β€” 2016Greater Philadelphia
  6. Insight Venture PartnersAnalyst2006 β€” 2008
  7. Updata PartnersIntern2004 β€” 2005

Education

  1. The Wharton SchoolBachelor of Science, Finance and Entrepreneurship2002 β€” 2006

Skills & more

Venture Capital40Entrepreneurship44Start-ups50Private Equity5Product Management8Valuation3Due Diligence4Strategy28SaaS16Web Analytics6Marketing11Corporate Development3
+10 moreBusiness StrategyAngel InvestingStrategic PartnershipsCheeseBusiness DevelopmentExplosionsRedditMilkSoftware as a Service (SaaS)Analytics

From Jake's professional profile.

Founder mafias

Y Combinator mafia8,729

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Sam AltmanPresidentFounded LooptFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded CoinbaseMatt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded HotspotsTrae StephensYC Winter 2022Founded PursuitDelian AsparouhovYC Summer 2014Founded Nightingale +1Michael SeibelManaging Director, Early Stage and Group PartnerFounded Socialcam

+ 8,722 more

The Wharton School mafia191

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Jack AbrahamBachelors of Science in Economics *Dropped outFounded Sauron +7Ankur JainBachelor of Science (BS)Founded Kairos +3Christian SchadeMaster of Business Administration - MBAFounded Halda Therapeutics +2Eric HeilMBAFounded Ladderbio +1Daniel FetnerMaster of Business Administration (MBA)Founded Instrument Capital +1Jake SchwartzMBAFounded Brave Health +1

+ 184 more

Updata Partners mafia5

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Sloan GaonOperating PartnerFounded PulsepointElizabeth CholawskyOperating AdvisorFounded HG InsightsDevon WatsonAssociate (internship)Founded Envera SystemsEric FutoranVenture Capital AssociateFounded Embrace

RJMetrics mafia4

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Andres RecaldeSales Engineer + Professional ServicesFounded Muffin DataSal CalvoAnalystFounded Muffin DataBenjamin GarveySenior Software EngineerFounded Common Paper

Common Paper mafia2

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Andrew McLoughlinInvestor, Board ObserverFounded Founders Pledge

Same school

Also attended The Wharton School1,502

Fred WilsonCo-founder & Partner at Union Square VenturesSarah GuoFounder & General Partner of ConvictionJosh KopelmanFounder and Partner at First Round CapitalAydin SenkutFounder & Managing Partner at FelicisKatie RiesterPartner, Head of Investor Relations at Felicis VenturesTrevor OelschigInvestment Team at General Catalyst

+ 1,496 more

Shared employers

Also worked at Common Paper2

Andrew McLoughlinBrit in San Francisco; seed-stage venture capital investorBenjamin GarveyFounder at Common Paper

Also worked at Talend5

Steve SinghManaging Director at Madrona Venture GroupMark NelsonVenture Partner at Madrona Venture GroupCurt GunsenheimerManaging Partner at Iris CapitalBertrand DiardPartner at SerenaRΓ©gis SaleurManaging Partner at Supernova Invest

Also worked at Stitch, Inc. (Acquired by Talend)1

Karan MehandruManaging Director at Madrona Venture Group

Also worked at RJMetrics (acquired by Magento Commerce)4

Tripp JonesInvestor at Uncork CapitalAndres RecaldeFounder at Muffin DataSal CalvoFounder at Muffin DataBenjamin GarveyFounder at Common Paper

Frequently asked questions

What companies did Jake Stein found?
Jake Stein founded Common Paper.