Joe Heitzeberg
About Joe Heitzeberg
Joe Heitzeberg is based in San Francisco and is the founder of AI Tinkerers, a global community of hands-on AI builders. A podcast write-up describes it as a curated network of more than 100,000 builders across 220 cities. His own bio says it started before the public launch of ChatGPT.
He is a repeat founder. He founded Snapvine, which WhitePages acquired in 2008, and MediaPiston, which oDesk/Upwork acquired. He then co-founded and was President of Madrona Venture Labs, the Seattle startup studio funded by Madrona Venture Group. He later co-founded Crowd Cow, a marketplace for craft meat and seafood, and moved from CEO to Chairman of its board. His bio cites more than $50M in annual revenue at Crowd Cow.
He studied computer science at the University of Washington and earned an MBA from MIT Sloan. Crunchbase lists a 2019 Allen School Alumni Impact Award.
Crunchbase lists 2 investments and 2 portfolio companies for Heitzeberg, with no lead investments. PitchBook also profiles him as an active individual angel with 2 investments. The two it lists are Algorithmia (August 2014) and a Seed round in Glue (May 2019). A Crunchbase listing also shows an angel round in Smore, which is not counted in the two above, so the public record is incomplete. Check sizes and ownership stakes are not public.
Heitzeberg's X bio reads "Investing in ambitious AI companies at inception stages." In October he posted about a founder who had applied to speak at AI Tinkerers in San Francisco. He wrote that he met the founder before the talk, introduced him to seed investors and made his first angel investment. He linked a Forbes story about that startup's brain-computer interface hat. Algorithmia, the 2014 investment, is a business software company. Most of his other AI involvement comes through AI Tinkerers, which puts him in contact with early builders.
The stage he names publicly is inception, meaning the earliest company stage. An AI Tinkerers organizer profile says he can advise companies and help them secure seed funding at their earliest stages. His public posts and bios focus on AI. His past investments are in business and productivity software and social platform software. He lives and works in San Francisco and has also been based in Seattle. No check size or formal investment thesis is public.
- Glue: Seed round, May 2019, listed by PitchBook and Crunchbase as a social/platform software company.
- Algorithmia: investment dated August 2014, listed by PitchBook as a business and productivity software company.
- Smore: angel round shown on Crunchbase, date not confirmed.
- Mighty AI: Heitzeberg was on its board per Wellfound. It grew out of Spare5, which was launched at Madrona Venture Labs under his presidency. This was not an angel investment.
- crunchbase.com/person/joe-heitzeberg
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/437095-54
- x.com/jheitzeb
- aitinkerers.org/connect/client/client_5zl7r783w
- seattle.aitinkerers.org/hackathons/h_uQZpKQAQlyY/organizers
- wellfound.com/p/joe-heitzeberg
- sfchris.medium.com/youre-no-more-than-2-or-3-months-behind-92a03ef99be
- linkedin.com/in/joeheitzeberg
Investing activity
Joe Heitzeberg has made 2 investments according to Crunchbase across 2 portfolio companies, and has seen 1 exit and founded 3 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Joe Heitzeberg
Does Joe Heitzeberg invest in pre-seed and seed AI startups?
His X bio says he invests in ambitious AI companies at inception stages, and an AI Tinkerers profile says he helps companies secure seed funding at their earliest stages. He has not published a formal stage policy.
What is Joe Heitzeberg's check size?
No check size is public. Crunchbase and PitchBook do not list amounts for his investments.
How many investments has Joe Heitzeberg made?
Crunchbase lists 2 investments, 2 portfolio companies and no lead investments. Recorded deals include Algorithmia (2014) and Glue (2019). A Smore angel round also appears on his Crunchbase page.
How can a founder get in front of Joe Heitzeberg?
He is active on X as @jheitzeb. Speaking at an AI Tinkerers meetup is another route, since he described investing in a founder who first applied to speak at the San Francisco chapter.
What companies has Joe Heitzeberg founded?
He founded Snapvine (acquired by WhitePages), MediaPiston (acquired by Upwork) and AI Tinkerers. He also co-founded Crowd Cow and Madrona Venture Labs.
Where is Joe Heitzeberg based?
He is based in San Francisco, California, and has also been based in Seattle.
Is Joe Heitzeberg an angel investor?
Yes. Joe Heitzeberg invests personally as an angel and is Founder at AI Tinkerers. Crunchbase counts 2 investments and 1 exit.
How can founders reach Joe Heitzeberg?
Founders on Lounge can see Joe Heitzeberg'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 Joe Heitzeberg to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.