Find your path to James
603 people in our graph share verified history with James — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Quentin ClarkunlockedJames: together at Dropbox (2017–2019)
×7James: together at Dropbox
×2James: together at Convex
×2James: together at MIT
About
James Cowling is the co-founder and CTO of Convex. He previously designed storage systems at Dropbox and conducted distributed systems research at MIT.
Founder at Convex
Intro paths
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In turn, James can intro founders to Convex's investors below.
Convex's investors · 15
Alumni VenturesManchester · $100K – $10M checks · since 2025Andreessen HorowitzMenlo Park · $500K – $50M checks · since 2025Bessemer Venture PartnersRedwood City · $5M – $100M checks · since 2024Emergence Capital PartnersSan Francisco · $500K – $10M checksFounders Circle CapitalSan FranciscoI2BF Global VenturesNew York · $500K – $10M checks · since 2015Index VenturesSan Francisco · $540K – $10.8M checks · since 2020Insight PartnersNew York · $120M – $350M checks · since 2026Mucker CapitalVenice · $250K – $750K checksNeoSan Francisco · $100K – $10M checks · since 2025Next Legacy PartnersPortola ValleySherpalo VenturesMenlo ParkSpark CapitalSan Francisco · $500K – $25M checks · since 2025TidemarkMenlo ParkWonder VenturesLos Angeles · $100K – $1.5M checks
Co-founders at Convex
JT
Jamie TurnerCo-founder & CEO
VK
Vahe KuzoyanExecutive Officer, Director
AM
Ara MahdessianExecutive Officer, Director
Experience
- ConvexCo-Founder / CTOcurrent2020 — present
- DropboxSenior Principal Engineer2012 — 2020San Francisco
- MITPhD Student and Research Assistant2005 — 2012Cambridge, MA
- MITMediator and Peer Counselor2008 — 2012Cambridge, MA
- MicrosoftResearch Intern2008Cambridge, United Kingdom
- NICTAResearch Engineer2004 — 2005
- The University of Sydney, School of I.T.Academic Staff and Researcher2003 — 2004Sydney, Australia
- The University of Sydney, School of I.T.Student Advisor and Web Developer2003Sydney, Australia
Skills & more
Distributed Systems23Fault Tolerance2Cloud Computing3Transaction Processing2Programming3Research2MediationComputer Science7Algorithms4CC++3Java4
+2 more
PythonMatlabFrom James's professional profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is James Cowling?
- James Cowling is the co-founder and CTO of Convex. He previously designed storage systems at Dropbox and conducted distributed systems research at MIT.
- Where does James Cowling work?
- James Cowling is Founder of Convex.
- What companies did James Cowling found?
- James Cowling founded Convex.
- Where did James Cowling go to school?
- James Cowling studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD, Computer Science and Engineering); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science); UC San Diego (Educational Exchange Program, Computer Science).
Founder mafias
Massachusetts Institute of Technology mafia1,221
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Elad GilPhDFounded Brain Co. +1Hemant TanejaMinorFounded Hippocratic AINat FriedmanBachelor of ScienceFounded XamarinBrad FeldS.B.Founded TechstarsMatt HuangB.S.Founded Paradigm +1Delian AsparouhovDropoutFounded Nightingale +1
+ 1,214 more
UC San Diego mafia235
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Elad GilBAFounded Brain Co. +1Chester NgBSFounded DivXPhillip SamayoaPhDFounded Generation Bio +2Wendy JohanssonCognitive ScienceFounded Misaludhealth +2Elizabeth A. MullerBachelorsFounded Deep Isolation +2Sean AinsworthB.S.Founded RetroSense Therapeutics +1
+ 228 more
University of Sydney mafia109
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Ryan JuneeBEFounded Ostro +2Jesse BuckinghamBachelor of Laws (LL.B.)Founded Vooma +2Alek SafarianB.Pharm.Founded Vantage Biosciences +1Chris ThomasBachelor of ArtsFounded Terrascope +1Denis MarsBachelor of Science (B.S.)Founded Proxy +1Ben SandComputer Science - 3.5 years completed.Founded Strong Compute +1
+ 102 more
Dropbox mafia107
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Drew HoustonCo-Founder and Co-CEOFounded AccoladeKanjun QiuBusiness OperationsFounded Kanjun +2Gautam JayaramanEngineerFounded Onsite Pro +2Anatoly YakovenkoSoftware EngineerFounded Solana +2Adam GrossSVP, Marketing and SalesFounded Personify +1Ivan KiriginProduct ManagerFounded YesGraph +1
+ 100 more
Same school
Also attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology2,000
Fred WilsonCo-founder & Partner at Union Square VenturesElad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil CapitalAileen LeeFounder & Managing Partner of Cowboy VenturesHemant TanejaCEO & Managing Director of General CatalystPhilippe LaffontFounder & CIO of Coatue ManagementNat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDG
+ 1,994 more
Also attended UC San Diego497
Elad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil CapitalMark SusterManaging Partner at Upfront VenturesChester NgGeneral Partner at AtomicBirgitteInvestor at InvestinorHouman HaghighiPartner, Business & Corporate Development at Menlo VenturesFreya Svedberg-KeatingInvestor at Medicxi
+ 491 more
Also attended University of Sydney430
Clay RobbinsForward Deployed Partner at Slow VenturesClare McCartney BeerCOO & Managing Director at Burda Principal InvestmentsTony NystenPartner at OpenOceanGustav von SydowInvestor at EQT VenturesNaomi GunasekaranDeputy Chief Financial Officer, Funds - Finance at Magnetar AI VenturesAlex ChetkowskiInvestor at Riverwood Capital
+ 424 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Convex3
Also worked at Dropbox188
Drew HoustonCo-founder & CEO of DropboxArash FerdowsiCo-founder of DropboxQuentin ClarkInvestment Team at General CatalystAna AndreescuInvestor at Index VenturesMark GoldbergInvestor at Index VenturesRachel HansenInvestor at Index Ventures
+ 182 more
Also worked at MIT817
Aileen LeeFounder & Managing Partner of Cowboy VenturesMatt HuangCo-founder and Managing Partner at ParadigmMichael TruellCo-founder & CEO of CursorRaquel UrtasunFounder & CEO of WaabiColin WebbFounder & CEO of Avatar RoboticsAbraham BachrachCo-founder & CTO of Skydio
+ 811 more
Also worked at Microsoft2,000
Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockGarry TanPresident & CEO of Y CombinatorNat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDGKai-Fu LeeChairman of Sinovation Ventures and CEO of 01.AIBill GatesCo-founder of Microsoft; Chair of the Gates FoundationMike KriegerCo-founder of Instagram; Chief Product Officer at Anthropic
+ 1,994 more