Greg Brockman Returns to OpenAI, Instagram Co-Founder is Hiring at Anthropic, and Forerunner Debuts $500M Fund

Free Agency

Welcome to Free Agency, where we share updates on notable career moves in tech. Whether someone is launching a new venture, joining a different company, stepping away to explore new opportunities, or otherwise making waves in the industry, we’re here to help you keep up. 

We're excited to partner with Live Data Technologies to track career moves of key professionals. Their real-time job change data serves investors, tech platforms, HR teams, and major media outlets like WSJ and Bloomberg. Contact Jason Saltzman or visit their website if you want to learn more.

Know someone making a move or having an impact? Share their details with us by filling out this short form.

Free agents

Erin Fitzpatrick, former Senior Manager of Growth Marketing at Alma, is exploring opportunities in Business Operations, Chief of Staff, or Marketing Roles. 

Hector Stanley, former Co-Founder & CPO of ditto, is leaving ditto. Previously led product at Fuzey and Disperse, with experience at PwC. 

Monika Robbins, most recently Senior Operations Manager at DoorDash, has ended her time at the company. She has experience in TMT M&A, operational strategy, and scaling projects at Deloitte.

Forward employees affected by the shutdown.

Just started

Meltem Demirors has announced the launch of CrucibleVC, a new crypto investment firm. A veteran in the cryptocurrency space, Demirors brings nearly a decade of experience from prominent roles at DCG (2015-2018) and CoinShares (2018-2024), where she helped grow assets under management to $50B and $7B respectively. 

Kulveer Taggar has launched his career as a full-time early-stage investor, focusing on backing high-output YC founders across various categories. Following the sale of his company Zeus Living last year, he is now actively seeking ambitious founders for investment opportunities.

Chandramouli Gopalakrishnan, Ph.D has joined a stealth AI startup in Bengaluru in a Product role after serving as Principal PM Manager at Microsoft for over 4 years. Previously, he was Chief Digital Officer at Travenues (acquired by SpiceJet), where he built a B2B SaaS platform for the aviation industry.

Jack Xu has joined a stealth robotics startup as a Robotics Software Engineer. He brings robotics experience from his research at the University of Waterloo, where he led vision-based mobile manipulator development.

Karl Wirth has launched stravu as Co-founder and CEO, a new AI platform that helps users research, strategize, and make better decisions. Previously CPO and CTO at Treasure Data, Wirth is now accepting sign-ups for their Beta waitlist at stravu.com.

Robert Khoury and Christopher Chan have launched Intent, an AI-powered platform that streamlines and automates how organizations respond to RFPs and infosec questionnaires. The two Berkeley graduates connected over their shared interest in using LLMs to eliminate manual work, particularly in areas that weren't previously possible to automate. Christopher serves as CEO while Robert takes on the CTO role.

Forerunner VC, has launched Fund VII, marking a significant milestone with the firm now managing nearly $3 billion in assets. The new $500 million early-stage fund focuses on consumer opportunities in the AI era, targeting investments from $1M-$20M across sectors like healthcare, finance, education, and commerce. 

Josh Haberman has launched Synthesis Ventures, a new seed-stage investment firm focusing primarily on software companies, with selective investments in consumer and hardware ventures. The firm leads and co-leads rounds from $500,000 to $2 million, targeting founders building companies that combine societal impact with financial returns.

Just left 

Thomas Schulz announced the closure of Solaris, his venture that created a co-working and living space for early-stage startups in Hayes Valley, San Francisco. After two years of operation and helping hundreds of founders achieve a collective $1B valuation, Schulz is stepping away to evaluate new opportunities in the Network State space while reflecting on lessons learned from the venture.

Haley Hasslacher has left Capital One after 12 years, where she most recently served as Chief of Staff for Bank Technology. Her experience spans strategy, program management, and operational excellence across banking technology, cards, and enterprise risk. 

Paul Lellouche, recent Co-Founder of GridKit (EV charger maintenance platform) and former Energy Analyst at Tesla's Supercharger team, has left GridKit. With experience in energy systems analysis and EV infrastructure, combined with roles in sales engineering and analytics at Tesla, he brings deep expertise in the electric vehicle and energy space. 

Mona G. Flores, MD, former Global Head of Medical AI at NVIDIA, has left the company. She spent over 6 years at NVIDIA leading healthcare AI initiatives and previously served as CMO at a healthcare startup.

Just joined