Bret Taylor
About Bret Taylor
Bret Taylor is based in San Francisco. He is a co-founder of Sierra, an AI platform for customer experience, and chairs the board of OpenAI. Crunchbase lists his OpenAI chair role as starting on Nov 29, 2023. He earned an MS in Computer Science at Stanford University.
He began his career at Google, where he was a Group Product Manager from 2003 to 2007 and co-created Google Maps. He then co-founded FriendFeed, which Facebook acquired. He served as Facebook's CTO from 2010 to 2012. In 2012 he founded Quip, a productivity software company that Salesforce acquired in 2016. Crunchbase counts 3 companies founded (FriendFeed, Quip and Sierra) and 3 exits.
At Salesforce he was Chief Product Officer from 2017, then President and Chief Operating Officer from 2019, and Co-CEO from November 2021 to January 2023. He was also chairman of Twitter's board from November 2021 to October 2022. In 2023 he founded Sierra with Clay Bavor, a former Google executive.
Taylor's personal investing record is small and mostly public through database listings, not announcements by him. Crunchbase lists 5 investments in 5 portfolio companies, with no lead investments. PitchBook classifies him as an active angel investor and lists 4 deals. Tracxn counts 3.
The listed deals run from 2019 to 2025 and are mostly seed or Series A rounds. They include Robocorp (seed), The Browser Company (Series A, listed by PitchBook in 2021), Socket (Series B, listed by PitchBook in October 2024) and Terraton (seed, 2025). Crunchbase also lists a seed investment in Cue, with no date shown. Sources disagree on some dates. Tracxn dates the Robocorp round to November 2019, while PitchBook lists May 2020. Tracxn dates Terraton to April 2025 and PitchBook to August 2025.
Taylor's main AI work is as an operator and board member, not as an angel. He co-founded Sierra in 2023. In October 2024 Sierra raised $175 million at a $4.5 billion valuation, in a round led by Greenoaks Capital with ICONIQ and Thrive Capital participating. In May 2026 TechCrunch reported that Sierra was raising $950 million, led by Tiger Global and GV, at a post-money valuation above $15 billion. Sierra has also made acquisitions, including the YC-backed French startup Fragment in April 2026.
He has chaired OpenAI's board since November 2023. None of the angel investments listed on Crunchbase or PitchBook is described there as an AI company, so this page does not label them as AI investments.
Taylor has not published a thesis, stage preference or check size that we found, so none is given here. The recorded deals are early-stage rounds, mainly seed and Series A, with one Series B. Tracxn says his investments are mainly in Enterprise Applications and Enterprise Infrastructure, and that his portfolio companies are in the United States. PitchBook files the deals under business and productivity software, internet software and network management software. Check size and any ownership terms are not public.
- Terraton: seed round in 2025. Tracxn reports the round at $11.6 million with Lowercarbon and Gigascale Capital among the co-investors.
- Socket: Series B, listed by PitchBook in October 2024. Crunchbase also lists him as an investor in the company.
- The Browser Company: Series A, listed by PitchBook in 2021 as an early-stage VC round.
- Robocorp: seed round, dated 2019 by Tracxn (reported at $5.6 million) and 2020 by PitchBook.
- Cue: seed round listed on Crunchbase, with no date shown.
- crunchbase.com/person/bret-taylor
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/343303-57
- tracxn.com/d/people/bret-taylor/__MHjD3DW-vi0V7rGBP9D9uS89xHhf14LgH0jR
- weforum.org/people/bret-taylor
- cnbc.com/2024/10/28/bret-taylors-ai-startup-sierra-valued-at-4point5-b
- techcrunch.com/2026/05/04/sierra-raises-950m-as-the-race-to-own-enterp
- techcrunch.com/2026/04/23/bret-taylors-sierra-buys-yc-backed-ai-startu
- x.com/btaylor
Investing activity
Bret Taylor has made 5 investments according to Crunchbase across 5 portfolio companies, and has seen 3 exits and founded 3 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Bret Taylor
Is Bret Taylor an angel investor?
Yes. PitchBook classifies him as an active individual angel investor. Crunchbase lists 5 personal investments in 5 portfolio companies. His main roles are running Sierra and chairing OpenAI's board.
What stage does Bret Taylor invest in?
The recorded deals are mostly seed and Series A rounds, with one Series B. He has made no public statement on preferred stage.
What is Bret Taylor's check size?
His check size is not public. Third-party databases report round totals for some deals, but not how much he put in.
What sectors does Bret Taylor back?
Tracxn says his investments are mainly in enterprise applications and enterprise infrastructure. PitchBook files them under business software, internet software and network management software.
What companies has Bret Taylor founded?
Crunchbase counts 3 founded companies: FriendFeed, Quip and Sierra. Facebook acquired FriendFeed and Salesforce acquired Quip.
How can founders contact Bret Taylor?
He has a public X account at @btaylor and a LinkedIn profile. He has not published an investor intake process that we found.
Where is Bret Taylor based?
Bret Taylor is based in San Francisco, California, United States.
How can founders reach Bret Taylor?
Founders on Lounge can see Bret Taylor's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Bret Taylor to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.