About
Michael Silver was the first engineer and head of infrastructure at Gather, where he helped scale the company through Series B funding. He previously worked as an early engineer at Jamsocket (acquired by Modal), and held engineering roles at SingleStore, Meta's distributed systems team, and Apple's Siri division, alongside research experience at MIT's Computer Science and AI Lab. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from MIT.
Founder at KaizenYC X25
Intro paths
YC
Michael went through Y Combinator (Spring 2025) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
GP
Their group partner at YC was Diana Hu, General Partner at Y Combinator — the partner who ran Kaizen's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗
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In turn, Michael can intro founders to Kaizen's investors below.
Kaizen's investors · 5
Co-founders at Kaizen
KA
Kenneth AcquahFounder
Experience
- KaizenCo-Founder & CEOcurrent2025 — presentSan Francisco, California, United States
- JamsocketSenior Software Engineer2024New York, New York, United States
- GatherEngineering Manager, Infrastructure & Engineering Productivity2022 — 2023
- GatherTeam Lead (Manager), Infrastructure2021 — 2022
- GatherTech Lead, Infrastructure2020 — 2021
- GatherSoftware Engineer2020
- SingleStoreSoftware Engineering Intern2020
- FacebookSoftware Engineering Intern2019Greater Seattle Area
- AppleSoftware Engineering Intern2017San Francisco Bay Area
- MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)Undergraduate Researcher2016 — 2017Greater Boston
- MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)Infrastructure Engineer2016Greater Boston
- MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)Research Intern2014 — 2016Greater Boston
- Russian School of MathematicsPrivate Tutor2013 — 2014Greater Boston
- Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteResearch Assistant2014Greater Boston
Skills & more
Distributed Systems1Rust (Programming Language)Computer Science5Programming4Natural Language Processing1Artificial Intelligence2Python3Java1C++1RubyMySQLPostgreSQL
+5 more
MongoDBHTMLCascading Style Sheets (CSS)JavaScriptLeadershipFrom Michael's professional profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Michael Silver?
- Michael Silver was the first engineer and head of infrastructure at Gather, where he helped scale the company through Series B funding. He previously worked as an early engineer at Jamsocket (acquired by Modal), and held engineering roles at SingleStore, Meta's distributed systems team, and Apple's Siri division, alongside research experience at MIT's Computer Science and AI Lab. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from MIT.
- Where does Michael Silver work?
- Michael Silver is Founder of Kaizen.
- What companies did Michael Silver found?
- Michael Silver founded Kaizen.
- Where did Michael Silver go to school?
- Michael Silver studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Bachelor's degree, Computer Science); Y Combinator (Spring 2025 Batch (X25)); Boston University Academy (High School).
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia8,773
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Sam AltmanPresidentFounded Tools for Humanity +3Jessica LivingstonCo-founderFounded Y CombinatorAlexis OhanianYC Summer 2005Founded RedditFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded Nudge +1Matt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded HotspotsTrae StephensYC Winter 2022Founded Pursuit +1
+ 8,766 more
Y Combinator mafia4,716
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Ryan SheaEntrepreneurshipFounded StacksTarek MansourFounded KalshiSuhail DoshiEating beans & riceFounded Playground +1Subomi OluwalanaW22Founded ConvoyDarius "Bubs" MonsefS19Founded Sightbox +3Matthew ScholzFounded Oisin Biotechnologies +3
+ 4,709 more
Massachusetts Institute of Technology mafia546
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Elad GilPhDFounded Brain Co.Nat FriedmanBachelor of ScienceFounded XamarinMatt HuangB.S.Founded HotspotsDelian AsparouhovDropoutFounded Nightingale +1Drew HoustonBSFounded Dropbox +1Arash FerdowsiComputer ScienceFounded Dropbox
+ 539 more
SingleStore mafia6
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Gather mafia3
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Same school
Also attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology1,387
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 CatalystNat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDGBrad FeldCo-founder of Foundry and Techstars
+ 1,381 more
Also attended Y Combinator2,000
Tarek MansourCo-founder & CEO of KalshiSuhail DoshiFounder of Mixpanel; founder of ParticleSubomi OluwalanaCo-founder & CEO of ConvoyMaroof AhmedFounder at Octopus VenturesJustin SwartPartner at Bitkraft Esports VenturesCollin WallaceGeneral Partner at Lobby Capital
+ 1,994 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Gather3
Also worked at SingleStore17
Bryan OffuttInvestor at Index VenturesTed KummertVenture partner at Madrona focused on enterprise infrastructure, data, and intelligent applicationsJordan TiganiVenture Partner at Zero Prime VenturesRaman KhannaManaging Director at Dell Technologies CapitalTony AskewFounder Partner at REV Venture PartnersAbhishek ShuklaManaging Director at Prosperity7 Ventures
+ 11 more
Also worked at Facebook535
Peter ThielCo-founder & Partner at Founders FundChamath PalihapitiyaFounder & CEO of Social CapitalJim BreyerFounder & CEO of Breyer CapitalDavid SzeAdvisory Partner at GreylockReed HastingsCo-founder of NetflixAndy FangCo-founder & CTO of DoorDash
+ 529 more
Also worked at Apple489
Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockJim BreyerFounder & CEO of Breyer CapitalDaniel GrossMeta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDG and Safe SuperintelligenceSteve JurvetsonCo-founder of Future VenturesKai-Fu LeeChairman of Sinovation Ventures and CEO of 01.AISteve WozniakCo-founder of Apple
+ 483 more