Jianna Liu
InvestorFounderPartner at Dorm Room · Founder at Cardinal
Pleasanton, California
Writes $40K checks · typically $40K
FoundedCardinal · YC
Find your path to Jianna
562 people in our graph share verified history with Jianna — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Annie KadavyunlockedJianna: together at DoorDash (2022)
×2Jianna: together at DoorDash
Jianna: together at Facebook
×6Jianna: together at Dorm Room
About
Jianna Liu studied computer science at MIT and held software engineering roles at Meta, DoorDash, and Nvidia. She previously founded a YC S23-backed energy software company that was acquired by Johnson Controls.
Founder at CardinalYC W26
Intro paths
YC
Jianna went through Y Combinator (Winter 2026) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
GP
Their group partner at YC was Gustaf Alstromer — the partner who ran Cardinal's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗
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In turn, Jianna can intro founders to Cardinal's investors below.
Cardinal's investors · 3
Co-founders at Cardinal
DJ
Devi JhaFounder
Experience
- CardinalCo-Foundercurrent2025 — present
- LeafpressCo-Founder2023 — 2025
- MIT School of Architecture and PlanningResearcher2023Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
- DoorDashSoftware Engineer2022San Francisco, California, United States
- MIT Climate & Sustainability Consortium (MCSC)Researcher2022Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
- NVIDIADeep Learning Researcher2021Santa Clara, California, United States
- FacebookSoftware Engineer2021Menlo Park, California, United States
- MIT Brain and Cognitive SciencesMachine Learning Researcher2020Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Skale Education Inc.Software Engineer2020
Skills & more
Python7React.js4Javascript4Java1Typescript1HTML1
Languages Chinese
From Jianna's professional profile.
Colleagues at Dorm Room
Aashrith Chejerla
Investor at Dorm Room
Alex Hammerman
Investor at Dorm Room
Alexa Spagnola
Managing Partner at Dorm Room
Amanda Aguayo
Co-Founder, Hunted Labs at Red Cell Incubation
Anchal Bhardwaj
Investor at Dorm Room
Anisha Musti
Investor at Dorm Room
Anjali Dhupam
Investor at Dorm Room
Annie Dong
Investor at Dorm Room
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Jianna Liu?
- Jianna Liu studied computer science at MIT and held software engineering roles at Meta, DoorDash, and Nvidia. She previously founded a YC S23-backed energy software company that was acquired by Johnson Controls.
- Where does Jianna Liu work?
- Jianna Liu is Founder of Cardinal and Partner at Dorm Room.
- What check size does Jianna Liu write?
- Jianna Liu typically writes checks of $40K.
- What companies did Jianna Liu found?
- Jianna Liu founded Cardinal.
- Where did Jianna Liu go to school?
- Jianna Liu studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Bachelor of Engineering - BE, Computer Science); University of Oxford (Visiting Student, Music and Computer Science); Y Combinator.
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia10,230
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Sam AltmanPresidentFounded Tools for Humanity +3Garry TanPresident & CEOFounded Y Combinator +1Jessica LivingstonCo-founderFounded Y CombinatorAlexis OhanianPartnerFounded RedditFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded Nudge +1Matt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded Paradigm +1
+ 10,223 more
Massachusetts Institute of Technology mafia1,220
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Elad GilPhDFounded Brain Co. +1Hemant TanejaM.Eng.Founded Hippocratic AINat FriedmanBachelor of ScienceFounded XamarinBrad FeldS.B.Founded TechstarsMatt HuangB.S.Founded Paradigm +1Delian AsparouhovDropoutFounded Nightingale +1
+ 1,213 more
University of Oxford mafia623
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Reid HoffmanM.St.Founded LinkedIn +2Gabriel PereyraDropped outFounded HarveyBrent HobermanMaster of Arts - MAFounded Founders Pledge +4William GuttmanM.PhilFounded CurvePoint +3Tom BlomfieldBA JurisprudenceFounded Starling Bank +2Kevin HartzMstFounded Eventbrite +2
+ 616 more
NVIDIA mafia136
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Jonathan RossChief Software ArchitectFounded GroqAlán Aspuru-GuzikSenior Director of Quantum ChemistryFounded Intrepid Labs +1Saurabh SrivastavaNemotron, Advanced Deep Learning ResearchFounded Warpdrive by Synthetic Minds +1Lee LiuWeb Software EngineerFounded Mezmo +1Musawir ShahSr. Software Engineer - TegraFounded Jerry +1Alex SismanisAndroid Developer InternFounded L1 Advisors +1
+ 129 more
Dorm Room mafia28
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Bruno FavieroManaging PartnerFounded Kolena +1Steven WangPartnerFounded Dub +1Taylor FrancisPartnerFounded Watershed Technology +1Mike AnnunziataInvestment PartnerFounded Farther FarmsMatt WheelerInvestment PartnerFounded VectoraisMario RuizManaging PartnerFounded Infinity Ventures
+ 21 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 University of Oxford1,552
Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockMichael MoritzFormer Partner at Sequoia Capital; Senior Adviser at Sequoia HeritageGabriel PereyraCo-founder & President of HarveyDominic JacquessonInvestor at Index VenturesErin Price-WrightInvestor at Index VenturesJan HammerInvestor at Index Ventures
+ 1,546 more
Also attended Y Combinator2,000
Ryan SheaCo-founder of Blockstack (Stacks)Suhail DoshiFounder of Mixpanel; founder of ParticleArhaan A.Deeptech Fellow at Clear VenturesAkshat GoenkaInvestor at Moonfire VenturesJon XuGeneral Partner at Y CombinatorChris GoldaGeneral Partner at Y Combinator
+ 1,994 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Cardinal1
Also worked at MIT School of Architecture and Planning1
Also worked at DoorDash80
Alfred LinPartner at Sequoia CapitalTony XuCo-founder & CEO of DoorDashAndy FangCo-founder & CTO of DoorDashStanley TangCo-founder of DoorDashGergely NemethSenior Engineering Manager at DoorDash; co-founder of RisingStackAnnie KadavyVenture Partner at Redpoint Ventures
+ 74 more
Also worked at NVIDIA169
Jonathan RossFounder of Groq; inventor of Google's TPU — now at NvidiaDiana HuGeneral Partner at Y CombinatorIan ShannonFinance/Legal/IR at 8VCRay SchuderSr. Investment Director at Samsung Catalyst FundSandy YuanAdvisor, AV & Robotics at Verissimo VenturesAbhi DinkarAdvisor - Enterprise Technology at Augment Ventures
+ 163 more