William Hockey
InvestorUnicorn founderCo-founder & CTO at Plaid
San Francisco, CA
Writes $5K – $50K checks · typically $25K
FoundedPlaid$13.4B
About
William Hockey co-founded Plaid in 2013 and built the API layer that connects fintech apps to bank accounts — then did something no other fintech founder had: he bought a bank. He left Plaid's CTO seat in 2019, spent Plaid shares on Northern California National Bank for roughly $50 million, and turned it into Column, the developer-first nationally chartered bank now powering Brex, Mercury, Ramp, Wise and Bilt. Column has taken no outside capital at all: Hockey owns about 90% of a business doing roughly $200 million of revenue and over $100 million of free cash flow, and says investor offers have valued it near $6 billion. He studied computer science and economics at Emory and met co-founder Zach Perret as a Bain consultant in Atlanta.
Beyond investing
- Founded
- Co-founded Plaid with Zach Perret in 2013 after the two met as Bain consultants in Atlanta; he was CTO until stepping back in June 2019 and remains on the board. Built Column by buying Northern California National Bank of Chico for roughly $50 million in 2021, financed by selling Plaid shares — an OCC-chartered, FDIC-insured bank rather than a partner-bank arrangement. Hockey co-founded the financial services company Plaid with Zachary Perret when he was 21, in New York City. Hockey founded Column, a nationally chartered bank that provides banking infrastructure for fintech developers, launched in April 2022.
- Education
- Studied computer science and economics at Emory University.
- Family
- Hockey was born in San Luis Obispo, California.
- More
- Column has taken zero outside capital and is founder- and employee-owned; Hockey holds about 90%. Column powers Brex, Mercury, Ramp, Wise and Bilt and is among the largest US originators of real-time payments. Visa agreed to buy Plaid for $5.3B in January 2020; the Justice Department sued and the deal was abandoned a year later.
Mentioned above: the Emory University mafia → · the Plaid mafia →
From William's own website — common ground for a warm intro.
Co-founder & CTO at Plaid
Intro paths
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In turn, William can intro founders to Plaid's investors below.
Plaid's investors · 32
Acrew CapitalSan Francisco · $1M – $15M checks · since 2016Ambush CapitalNew York · since 2016Andreessen HorowitzMenlo Park · $500K – $50M checks · since 2016Base10 PartnersSan Francisco · $100K – $5M checks · since 2016BlackRockNew York · since 2025BoxGroupNew York · $1M checks · since 2016ChemistrySan Francisco · since 2016Coatue ManagementNew York · $1M – $20M checksEQUIAMSan Francisco · $1M – $10M checks · since 2016Felicis VenturesSan Francisco · $500K – $15M checks · since 2016Franklin TempletonSan Mateo · since 2025GV (Google Ventures)Mountain View · $250K – $50M checks · since 2016HDS CapitalNew York City · since 2016HomebrewBurlingame · $100K – $500K checks · since 2016Index VenturesSan Francisco · $540K – $10.8M checks · since 2016Kleiner PerkinsMenlo Park · $500K – $15M checks · since 2016Launchpad CapitalOakland · since 2016Manhattan Venture PartnersNew York · since 2016Manhattan WestLos Angeles · since 2016New Enterprise Associates (NEA)Menlo Park · $200K – $40M checks · since 2016NewView CapitalBurlingame · since 2016Norwest Venture PartnersMenlo Park · $10M – $30M checks · since 2016Omega Venture PartnersSilicon Valley · since 2016Pathlight VenturesOld Bridge · $500K – $5M checks · since 2016PruVen Capital PartnersLos Altos · $100K – $10M checks · since 2016Ribbit CapitalPalo Alto · $100K – $15M checks · since 2025RPS VenturesLos Altos · $5M – $20M checks · since 2016Runa CapitalSofia · $500K – $5M checks · since 2016Silver Lake PartnersMenlo Park · since 2016Spark CapitalSan Francisco · $500K – $25M checks · since 2016The Players' Impactsince 2016Type One VenturesLos Angeles · $100K – $5M checks · since 2016
Co-founders at Plaid
ZP
Zach PerretCo-founder & CEO
Experience
Education
- Emory UniversityComputer Science
Investments
Board seats
Plaid
Per curated public sources.
Podcasts & interviews
featuring William HockeyNetwork5
Aatif AwanScout
Founder, Managing Partner at Indus Valley Capital
Ankur NagpalScout
Founder at Vibe Capital
Ben GormanScout
Principal at F-Prime Capital Partners
Ezra GalstonScout
Investor at Starting Line
Teddy HimlerScout
Founder and General Partner at Optimist Ventures
Investors connected to William in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- Where does William Hockey work?
- William Hockey is Co-founder & CTO at Plaid.
- What check size does William Hockey write?
- William Hockey typically writes checks of $5K – $50K.
- What companies did William Hockey found?
- William Hockey founded Plaid.
Paths to reach William
People who overlapped with William at the same organization — a shared school or employer with one of them is a warm way in.
Together at PlaidWilliam: Co-founder & CTO
Zach Perret2012–2026Co-founder & CEO of Plaid; co-founder of MischiefDuke UniversityZach Perret2012–2026Co-founder & CEO of Plaid; co-founder of MischiefDuke UniversitySundeep Peechu2013–2026General Partner at Felicis VenturesIndian Institute of Technology, Madras · Stanford University Graduate School of Business · University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignDave Munichiello2013–2026Investor at GV (Google Ventures)Emory UniversitySanto Politi2015–2026Investor at Spark CapitalBoğaziçi University · New Jersey Institute of Technology · The Wharton SchoolSanto Politi2015–2026Investor at Spark CapitalBoğaziçi University · New Jersey Institute of Technology · The Wharton School
Together at Scale AIWilliam: Board Director
Alexandr Wang2021–2026Co-founder of Scale AI; Chief AI Officer at MetaMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMike Volpi2021–2026Investor at Index VenturesStanford University Graduate School of BusinessAvi Bharadwaj2024–2026Investment Director at Intel CapitalAlexandra Farmer2024–2026Principal at Intel Capital, North AmericaCornell UniversityErica Van2024–2026Investment Director at Intel CapitalColumbia University · Rhode Island School of Design · The Wharton SchoolWill Reed2021–2026Investor at Spark CapitalAmherst College
Together at ColumnWilliam: CEO and founder
Brian Fishbein2021–2026Chief Investment Officer at Asymmetric Capital PartnersPrinceton UniversityAlex Rohrbach2025–2026Senior Associate at Thomvest VenturesMcGill University · University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of BusinessCharlie Liao2024–2026Investor at aCrew CapitalCornell University · D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern UniversityKelsey Tierney2024–2026Associate at TriplePoint CapitalTufts University
Founder mafias
Scale AI mafia46
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Lucy GuoCo-founderFounded PassesJosephine LeeIntern - GenAIFounded Palette Labs +1Daniel LevineBoard MemberFounded ChartioArnav SahuInvestorFounded WolfiaLan XuezhaoAngel investorFounded Basis SetFederico MirásSoftware EngineerFounded Pluggy
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+ 39 more
Emory University mafia28
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Romesh SubramanianPh.D.Founded RaNA Therapeutics +2Jay ParrishBSFounded ROME Therapeutics +1David SmollerBSFounded Panome Bio +1Ashish H. MistryBAFounded Ventureatlanta +1Vivek GaripalliFounded CarePoint +1Timur MeysterBachelor of Business AdministrationFounded Career Karma +1
+ 21 more
Plaid mafia10
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Zach PerretCo-Founder & CEOFounded PlaidAlain MeierHead of Fraud & IdentityFounded CognitoJeffrey WangSoftware EngineerFounded ExaJackson ChenSoftware EngineerFounded Alphawatch AIStephanie VasquezHead of Product, Risk & ComplianceFounded Line.BuildPritee TembhekarProduct ManagerFounded Flyflow
+ 3 more
Same school
Also attended Emory University117
Dave MunichielloInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Ryan HaysBoard Member at CincyTechJustin RobenyAssociate at Osage University PartnersZitong SuAssociate at Marlin Equity PartnersGurbani SinghPrincipal - Investor Relations at Marlin Equity PartnersCole LundquistPrincipal at QED Investors
+ 111 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Column4
Also worked at Scale AI75
Alexandr WangCo-founder of Scale AI; Chief AI Officer at MetaLucy GuoCo-founder of Scale AI; founder & CEO of PassesBrad PorterFounder & CEO of Collaborative RoboticsMike VolpiInvestor at Index VenturesAvi BharadwajInvestment Director at Intel CapitalAlexandra FarmerPrincipal at Intel Capital, North America
+ 69 more
Also worked at Bain & Company718
Steve JurvetsonCo-founder of Future VenturesLaela SturdyManaging Partner at CapitalGTheresia GouwFounding Partner at Acrew CapitalZach PerretCo-founder & CEO of Plaid; co-founder of MischiefJulie YangVice President at InvestcorpZach PoleyPartner and Chief Technology Officer at Clear Ventures
+ 712 more