Russell Smith
FounderFounder / CTO at Rainforest Β· Founder / CEO at 9 Mothers
Austin, Texas, United States
About
Russell Smith is the founder and CTO of Rainforest, an AI-powered testing platform for software quality assurance.
Russell Smith π€ @rhs
"Jarred was already writing slop well before he had access to LLMs" Dang. A good read: https://t.co/BNgVmeEUAQ
Jul 13, 2026 Β· β₯ 1
Russell Smith π€ @rhs
ππ€·ββοΈ https://t.co/DSaIIGlfhr
Jun 30, 2026 Β· β₯ 2
Russell Smith π€ @rhs
Interview about @Inc and @lisabonos - @9Mothers , @ployai, @ApolloAtomics, and more @ycombinator P26 folks! https://t.co/jV0eABD7Ug
Jun 27, 2026 Β· β₯ 6 Β· β 2
Founder / CTO at RainforestYC S12
Intro paths
Russell went through Y Combinator (Summer 2012) β any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
In turn, Russell can intro founders to Rainforest's investors below.
Rainforest's investors Β· 7
Co-founders at Rainforest
Founder / CEO at 9 MothersYC X26
Intro paths
Russell went through Y Combinator (Spring 2026) β any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
Their group partner at YC was Garry Tan, President & CEO of Y Combinator β the partner who ran 9 Mothers's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile β
In turn, Russell can intro founders to 9 Mothers's investors below.
9 Mothers's investors Β· 5
Co-founders at 9 Mothers
Experience
- 9 MothersCo-Founder, CEOcurrent2024 β presentAustin, Texas Metropolitan Area
- Rainforest QABoard Membercurrent2022 β present
- Rainforest QACo-founder & CTO2011 β 2022San Francisco Bay Area
- Beyond Equity PartnersManaging Director2023 β 2024
- UKD1 LimitedCEO2007 β 2012London, England, United Kingdom
- Powder Blue LtdSenior Analyst2005 β 2009Winchester, England, United Kingdom
- AKA LtdLead Software Engineer2004 β 2005Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
- CWL LtdLead Software Engineer2003 β 2004Farnham, UK
- Serck Controls LtdSoftware Engineer2001 β 2002
Education
- Y CombinatorP26, Military Technologies and Applied Sciences
- Y CombinatorS12, Business/Commerce2012
- University of StaffordshireBachelor's degree, Computer Science1999 β 2003
- Alton CollegeComputing, Law1997 β 1999
- Churcher's College1991 β 1999
Skills & more
+12 more
Problem SolvingStart-upsCloud ComputingAmazon Web Services (AWS)LAMPJavaScriptjQueryWeb DevelopmentSoftware EngineeringSEOE-commerceSoftware DevelopmentLanguages English Β· French
- Preventing Workplace Harassment β Emtrain
- MongoDB Master β MongoDB
From Russell's professional profile.
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia8,668
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
+ 8,661 more
University of Staffordshire mafia5
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Rainforest mafia3
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Same school
Also attended Y Combinator2,000
+ 1,994 more
Also attended University of Staffordshire12
+ 6 more
Shared employers
Also worked at 9 Mothers2
Also worked at Rainforest QA7
+ 1 more