About
Mathilde Collin co-founded Front in Paris in 2013 with Laurent Perrin, moved it to San Francisco through Y Combinator's Summer 2014 batch, and built the customer-communications platform to a $1.7 billion valuation — at the time one of only about eleven billion-dollar software companies founded and led by a woman. An HEC Paris entrepreneurship graduate, she became one of the most candid voices in software leadership, publishing Front's internal metrics and culture experiments and writing openly about the discipline and mental health that sustaining a decade of growth actually requires. She handed the CEO role to Dan O'Connell in 2024 and serves as Executive Chair.
Beyond investing
- Founded
- Co-founded Front in Paris in 2013 with CTO Laurent Perrin, whom she met at the eFounders startup studio. Moved to San Francisco in 2014 and was accepted into Y Combinator's Summer 2014 batch.
- Communities
- Practises radical transparency, publishing Front's internal metrics and culture experiments — including a widely read post on twenty-five remote-culture changes.
- More
- Front's $65m Series D in 2022 valued it at $1.7bn, roughly doubling its prior mark and putting her among a handful of women to found and lead a billion-dollar software company. Stepped down as CEO in 2024, handing the role to Dan O'Connell and becoming Executive Chair, saying the intensity of the job had become hard to sustain. Writes publicly about the routines that sustain a decade of building — daily meditation, device-free days — and helped normalise founders talking about mental health.
Mentioned above: the Y Combinator mafia →
From Mathilde's own website — common ground for a warm intro.
Co-founder & CEO at FrontYC S14
Intro paths
Mathilde went through Y Combinator (Summer 2014) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
In turn, Mathilde can intro founders to Front's investors below.
Front's investors · 10
Co-founders at Front
Experience
- Y CombinatorVisiting Partnercurrent2026 — presentSan Francisco, California, United States
- Korabench.aiCo-Foundercurrent2025 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- FrontCo-founder and Exec Chaircurrent2024 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- FrontCo-founder & CEO2013 — 2024Région de la baie de San Francisco, États-Unis
- PrivateInvestorcurrent2014 — present
- Welcome to the JungleBoard Member2022 — 2026
- ConcordProject Manager2012 — 2013Paris Area, France
Education
- HEC ParisMaster’s Degree, Entrepreneurship2008 — 2012
Skills & more
+8 more
New Business DevelopmentStrategic PartnershipsMarketingProduct ManagementBusiness AnalysisOnline MarketingDigital StrategyProduct MarketingFrom Mathilde's professional profile.
Podcasts & interviews
featuring Mathilde CollinNetwork10
Investors connected to Mathilde in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- Where does Mathilde Collin work?
- Mathilde Collin is Co-founder & CEO at Front.
- What companies did Mathilde Collin found?
- Mathilde Collin founded Front.
Paths to reach Mathilde
People who overlapped with Mathilde at the same organization — a shared school or employer with one of them is a warm way in.
Together at FrontMathilde: Co-founder & CEO
Together at Y CombinatorMathilde: Visiting Partner
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia8,763
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
+ 8,756 more
HEC Paris mafia80
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
+ 73 more
Front mafia4
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Same school
Shared employers
Also worked at Y Combinator337
+ 331 more
Also worked at Front13
+ 7 more
