Founders Fund is a San Francisco based venture capital firm investing in companies building revolutionary technologies.

Venture Capital

Founders Fund

Matias Van Thienen is a partner at Founders Fund, where he focuses primarily on growth stage and international investments. Since joining in 2018, he’s led or played a role in the firm’s investments in Trade Republic, Kavak, Modern Health, Scale AI, Figma, Faire, Cedar, Solugen, Workrise, Newfront, LeafLink, TruckSmarter, Supermove, Luko, Belvo and others.

Previously he was at Insight Partners and CapitalG, where he invested in CrowdStrike, UiPath, Qualtrics, Looker, ezCater and others. He also led Corp Dev at Wallapop, a secondhand marketplace in Spain, where he was responsible for strategy, fundraising and M&A. He holds a BS in Finance and Information Systems from NYU Stern.

Matias is originally from Buenos Aires and currently based in Miami, after a decade living in San Francisco, New York, Barcelona and Shanghai. He’s an avid kite surfer and skier.

Matias Van Thienen

Brian Singerman is a partner at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), where he relentlessly seeks out companies that can deliver massive returns to investors while also providing real value to humankind. He invests across sectors and stages, with a passion for companies reinventing huge industries like healthcare, biotechnology and education. Brian is a board director for [Affirm](/org/affirm), Cloud9, Emerald Therapeutics, The Long-Term Stock Exchange, Oscar and Postmates, and a board observer for [Airbnb](/org/airbnb), Wish, Anduril and Forward. He was a board director for Misfit prior to the company’s acquisition by [Fossil](/org/fossil) in 2015, and Stemcentrx before the company was acquired by [AbbVie](/org/abbvie) in 2016 in the largest private biotech acquisition of all time.

Prior to [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), Brian spent four years as an engineer and executive at Google. During this time Brian began investing through his own angel fund, The XGYC Fund. He began his career as an engineer at a startup, There, Inc. Brian graduated from [Stanford University](/org/stanford) with a BS in Computer Science.

Brian Singerman

Trae Stephens is a Partner at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), where he invests across sectors with a particular interest in startups operating in the government space. He is also Co-founder and Executive Chairman of [Anduril Industries](/org/anduril-industries), a defense technology company focused on autonomous systems.

Previously, Trae was an early employee at [Palantir](/org/palantir) Technologies, where he led teams focused on growth in the intelligence/defense space as well as international expansion, helping large organizations solve their hardest data analysis problems. He was also an integral part of the product team, leading the design and strategy for new product offerings. While at [Palantir](/org/palantir), Trae also served as an adjunct faculty member at [Georgetown University](/org/georgetown-university).

Prior to [Palantir](/org/palantir), Trae worked as a computational linguist building enterprise solutions to Arabic/Persian name matching and data enrichment within the United States Intelligence community. He began his career working in the office of then Congressman Rob Portman and in the Political Affairs Office at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C. immediately following the installation of Hamid Karzai’s transitional government. Trae graduated from the School of Foreign Service at [Georgetown University](/org/georgetown-university).

Trae Stephens

Leigh Marie Braswell is the current Principal at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund). Leigh has also worked as a Product Manager at [Scale AI](/org/scale), Associate Product Manager (APM) at Google, Assistant Trader at Jane Street, and Counselor at Research Science Institute (RSI). 

Leigh Marie Braswell has experience in various aspects of the product lifecycle, including early stages of product development. At [Scale AI](/org/scale), they built 3D Sensor Fusion (LiDAR + RADAR + camera) APIs, as well as other products to advance the development of AI/ML applications. Leigh also worked on multiple projects while at Google involving Chrome data, Polymer educational material, ads sustainability, and browser interventions. 

In addition to their experience in product management, Leigh Marie Braswell has experience in trading and writing trading tools. Leigh worked on International ETF, ADR & fixed income desks while at Jane Street and wrote trading tools in Python and VBA. Leigh Marie Braswell’s experience also includes counseling, which they did for one year at Research Science Institute (RSI).

Leigh Marie Braswell attended [Phillips Exeter Academy](/org/phillips-exeter-academy) for high school where they were the valedictorian. Leigh then went on to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and majored in math with a computer science concentration in economics.

Leigh Marie Braswell

Alexandra Silverman

Rabois, like the founders of Founders Fund, is a member of the so-called PayPal mafia, working as EVP of business development, public affairs and policy at the payments company between late 2000 and late 2002.

Keith Rabois

Lauren Gross is a Partner & COO at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), working closely with the investment team and leading all non-investment activities, which include running internal operations and overseeing the firm’s legal, finance and branding teams. Lauren works with the partnership on key strategic decisions and investments and also leads fundraising and management of the firm’s limited partner relationships.

Prior to [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), Lauren spent four years at Clarium Capital Management LLC, a global macro hedge fund. She began her financial career at Citigroup Investment Bank, where she was an analyst in the technology group. Lauren graduated with honors in Economics from [Stanford University](/org/stanford).

Lauren Gross

Napoleon is a Partner at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), where he focuses on growth investing. He sits on the board of RigUp, [The Athletic](/org/the-athletic) and Zenreach, and is an observer at [Flexport](/org/flexport), [Newfront Insurance](/org/newfront-insurance), [Nubank](/org/nubank), Postmates, [Scale Labs](/org/scale-labs) and Tagomi Systems. He also helped develop [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund)’s cryptocurrency thesis, leading to its initial investment in Bitcoin.

Napoleon holds an MBA from [Stanford University](/org/stanford) and a BS from the University of Colorado.

Napoleon Ta

Amin Mirzadegan is the current Principal at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund). Amin has also worked as an Investor at [General Atlantic](/org/general-atlantic) from July 2019 to August 2021, as well as Strategy & Ops at [Unison](/org/unison) from May 2018 to July 2019. Prior to that, they worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at [Morgan Stanley](/org/morgan-stanley) from July 2017 to May 2018.

Amin Mirzadegan's educational career includes a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from [Yale University](/org/yale-university).

Amin Mirzadegan

John is a principal at Founders Fund, where he has worked on investments in Newfront Insurance, Scale AI, Figma, Tagomi, Zinier, Coder, and Flock Safety. He previously worked at the Thiel Fellowship, where he focused on special technical projects. John has also held software developer roles at Sourcegraph, a global code search and cross-reference engine, and Parlio, a political discussion platform acquired by Quora. John received his BS in Computer Science from Stanford University, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Stanford Review.

John Luttig

Erin Gleason is Vice President of Communications at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), leading communications strategy and media relations for the firm and serving as an advisor to portfolio companies across a wide variety of sectors ranging from consumer tech to enterprise software to health and biotechnology. 

Before joining [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), Erin was a member of the executive team at [The Hatch Agency](/org/the-hatch-agency), a top technology communications firm. Prior to that, she oversaw public relations as one of the earliest employees at [Foursquare](/org/foursquare), managing tech, business and consumer press efforts for the startup. Erin began her career at Google New York, working on internal and external communications for the engineering executive team. Erin received a BA in Communications from [Stanford University](/org/stanford).

Erin Gleason Lane

As Creative Director at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), Mike aspires to build a continual lasting brand experience through various mediums of visual communication.

Before taking on a full-time roll at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), Mike was an integral figure in the development of several Peter Thiel founded brands including Arda Capital, Mithril Capital Management, Presidio One, The Thiel Fellowship, Thiel Capital, and [Valar Ventures](/org/valar-ventures). 

Mike received his Visual Arts degree from the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Mike Petriano

Scott is a Partner at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund) where he focuses on companies rearchitecting industries, usually with hard engineering at the foundation.  Scott works with Branch, [Collective Health](/org/collective-health), [Nubank](/org/nubank), Synthego and other startups in biotech, energy, healthcare, media and space.

Prior to [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), Scott was an early employee at [SpaceX](/org/spacex) where he helped develop the Merlin and Draco propulsion systems and portions of the Dragon capsule.  After [SpaceX](/org/spacex), Scott spent time working at [Bain & Company](/org/bain) with its private equity clients and later co-founded a startup building consumer apps on Facebook Connect.

Scott earned degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from [Cornell University](/org/cornell-university) and received his MBA from [Stanford University](/org/stanford) where he was co-president of the Entrepreneurs Club and voted most likely to drop out.

Scott Nolan

Delian Asparouhov is a principal at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund). Before joining [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), he was a principal at [Khosla Ventures](/org/khosla-ventures), head of growth at [Teespring](/org/teespring), and founder of a healthcare company called Nightingale. Delian is Bulgarian, attended MIT, and likes to ski and play soccer.

Delian Asparouhov

Michael is a vice president at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund) focused on community and brand. He runs creative programming including Symposium (F50), the firm’s annual summit, and Shop Talk, the firm’s professional networking series. He also directs content at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), and is the creator / producer of Anatomy of Next, the firm’s podcast.

Prior to joining [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), he edited non-fiction for the Penguin Group (USA). There, he acquired and developed New York Times bestselling work in the fields of technology, politics, philosophy, and humor. He is the author of Citizen Sim: Cradle of the Stars.

Michael Solana

Peter Thiel is an entrepreneur and investor. He started PayPal in 1998, led it as CEO, and took it public in 2002, defining a new era of fast and secure online commerce. In 2004 he made the first outside investment in Facebook, where he serves as a director. The same year he launched Palantir Technologies, a software company that harnesses computers to empower human analysts in fields like national security and global finance. He has provided early funding for [LinkedIn](/org/linkedin), [Yelp](/org/yelp), and dozens of successful technology startups, many run by former colleagues who have been dubbed the “PayPal Mafia.” He is a partner at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has funded companies like [SpaceX](/org/spacex) and Airbnb. He started the Thiel Fellowship, which ignited a national debate by encouraging young people to put learning before schooling, and he leads the Thiel Foundation, which works to advance technological progress and long-term thinking about the future. Peter is also the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future.

Peter Thiel

Neil is the Chief Financial Officer at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), leading the Finance team, and is responsible for the financial reporting of the firm’s investment funds as well as the day-to-day finance and management company matters.

Prior to joining [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), Neil was the Controller at VantagePoint Capital Partners, a leading global investor in energy, innovation and efficiency. He was previously the Controller at 3i, a leading international investor focused on private equity, infrastructure and debt management, and prior to that the Accounting Manager at investment banking firm Merriman Curhan Ford. Neil began his career at Ernst & Young LLP where he served as an Audit Manager in the financial services group. He is a qualified chartered accounted and received his Bachelor’s degree with honors from the [University of Johannesburg](/org/university-of-johannesburg) in South Africa.

Neil Ruthven

Neil Pai is General Counsel at [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund) and oversees the legal affairs of the firm, including investment structuring and negotiation, portfolio company management, and fund formation and governance.

Prior to joining [Founders Fund](/org/founders-fund), Neil was Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Thiel Capital, where he provided strategic and operational support for Peter Thiel’s investment initiatives and entrepreneurial endeavors. Neil began his legal career at [Sidley Austin](/org/sidley-austin-llp), an international law firm, where his practice included mergers and acquisitions, securities work, and general corporate governance of public and private companies. Neil received his JD from Harvard Law School and BA degrees in Economics and Sociology from [Duke University](/org/duke-university).

Founders Fund

Org chart

Teams

Leadership Team

CEO and Executive Team

Discover similar companies