People 67 founders
The founders behind the software
The people credited with founding the companies profiled on SoftwareLore. Select a name to read their biography on the company profile.
| Founder | Company | Role | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akshay Kothari | Notion | Co-founder and COO; joined full time in 2018 | 2013 |
| Alex Karp | Palantir | Co-founder; CEO since 2005 | 2003 |
| Ali Ghodsi | Databricks | Co-founder; CEO since 2016 | 2013 |
| Andy Konwinski | Databricks | Co-founder; later co-founded Perplexity and Laude | 2013 |
| Arash Ferdowsi | Dropbox | Co-founder; chief technology officer from 2007 to 2016 | 2007 |
| Arsalan Tavakoli-Shiraji | Databricks | Co-founder and SVP of field engineering | 2013 |
| Benoît Dageville | Snowflake | Co-founder; CTO (2012 to 2019) and president of products (2019 to 2025) | 2012 |
| Bob Miner | Oracle | Co-founder; led Oracle database development from 1977 to 1992 | 1977 |
| Brendan Eich | Mozilla | Co-founder; CTO from 2005 to 2014 and briefly CEO in 2014 | 2005 |
| Brian Halligan | HubSpot | Co-founder; CEO until 2021 and executive chair until 2025 | 2006 |
| Cameron Adams | Canva | Co-founder and chief product officer | 2012 |
| Claus Wellenreuther | SAP | Co-founder; left SAP in 1980 for health reasons | 1972 |
| Cliff Obrecht | Canva | Co-founder and chief operating officer | 2012 |
| Dan Drake | Autodesk | Co-founder and early business manager | 1982 |
| Dharmesh Shah | HubSpot | Co-founder and chief technology officer | 2006 |
| Dietmar Hopp | SAP | Co-founder; co-CEO until 1998, then supervisory board chairman | 1972 |
| Dmitri Alperovitch | CrowdStrike | Co-founder; chief technology officer from 2011 to 2020 | 2011 |
| Dmitriy Zaporozhets | GitLab | Co-founder; creator of GitLab; former CTO and engineering fellow | 2014 |
| Drew Houston | Dropbox | Co-founder; CEO since 2007 and co-CEO since May 2026 | 2007 |
| Dwight Merriman | MongoDB | Co-founder; CEO of 10gen until 2013 and a MongoDB director | 2007 |
| Dylan Field | Figma | Co-founder; CEO since 2012 and chair of the board since 2025 | 2012 |
| Ed Oates | Oracle | Co-founder; Oracle executive until he retired in 1996 | 1977 |
| Eliot Horowitz | MongoDB | Co-founder; chief technology officer from 2007 to 2020 | 2007 |
| Eugene Belyaev | JetBrains | Co-founder; early president and CTO | 2000 |
| Evan Wallace | Figma | Co-founder; chief technology officer until 2021 | 2012 |
| Fred Luddy | ServiceNow | Founder; CEO from 2004 to 2011 and chief product officer until 2016 | 2004 |
| Gabe Newell | Valve | Co-founder and president | 1996 |
| George Kurtz | CrowdStrike | Co-founder; president and CEO since 2011 | 2011 |
| Gregg Marston | CrowdStrike | Co-founder; first chief financial officer | 2011 |
| Hans-Werner Hector | SAP | Co-founder; oversaw SAP’s early expansion in the United States | 1972 |
| Hasso Plattner | SAP | Co-founder; co-CEO until 2003, supervisory board chairman 2003 to 2024 | 1972 |
| Ion Stoica | Databricks | Co-founder; CEO from 2013 to 2016, now executive chair | 2013 |
| Ivan Zhao | Notion | Co-founder and CEO | 2013 |
| Jason Citron | Discord | Co-founder; CEO until 2025 | 2012 |
| Joe Lonsdale | Palantir | Co-founder; left in 2009 and later founded 8VC | 2003 |
| John Walker | Autodesk | Co-founder; president and chairman until 1986 | 1982 |
| Kevin P. Ryan | MongoDB | Co-founder; former chief executive of DoubleClick | 2007 |
| Klaus Tschira | SAP | Co-founder; SAP executive and later supervisory board member | 1972 |
| Larry Ellison | Oracle | Co-founder; CEO from 1977 to 2014, now chairman and CTO | 1977 |
| Lee Holloway | Cloudflare | Co-founder; led Cloudflare’s early engineering until 2015 | 2009 |
| Marcin Żukowski | Snowflake | Co-founder; led early engineering until leaving in 2024 | 2012 |
| Matei Zaharia | Databricks | Co-founder and CTO; creator of Apache Spark | 2013 |
| Matt Mullenweg | Automattic | Founder, chairman and CEO; co-creator of WordPress | 2005 |
| Matthew Prince | Cloudflare | Co-founder; CEO since 2009 and co-chair | 2009 |
| Melanie Perkins | Canva | Co-founder and CEO | 2012 |
| Michelle Zatlyn | Cloudflare | Co-founder; president and co-chair | 2009 |
| Mike Cannon-Brookes | Atlassian | Co-founder; CEO (co-CEO from 2002 to 2024) | 2002 |
| Mike Harrington | Valve | Co-founder; left Valve in 2000 | 1996 |
| Mitchell Baker | Mozilla | Co-founder; CEO from 2005 to 2008 and from 2020 to 2024 | 2005 |
| Nathan Gettings | Palantir | Co-founder; engineer on Palantir’s first prototype | 2003 |
| Patrick Wendell | Databricks | Co-founder and VP of engineering | 2013 |
| Peter Thiel | Palantir | Co-founder; chairman since 2003 | 2003 |
| Reynold Xin | Databricks | Co-founder and chief architect | 2013 |
| Scott Cook | Intuit | Co-founder; CEO from 1983 to 1994 and a longtime board member | 1983 |
| Scott Farquhar | Atlassian | Co-founder; co-CEO from 2002 to 2024 | 2002 |
| Sergey Dmitriev | JetBrains | Co-founder; CEO until 2012 | 2000 |
| Shailesh Kumar Davey | Zoho | Co-founder; group CEO since January 2025 | 1996 |
| Sid Sijbrandij | GitLab | Co-founder; CEO from 2014 to 2024; executive chair | 2014 |
| Simon Last | Notion | Co-founder | 2013 |
| Sridhar Vembu | Zoho | Co-founder; CEO until 2025 and chief scientist since | 1996 |
| Stanislav Vishnevskiy | Discord | Co-founder and chief technology officer | 2012 |
| Stephen Cohen | Palantir | Co-founder; president and secretary | 2003 |
| Thierry Cruanes | Snowflake | Co-founder; guides Snowflake’s technology vision | 2012 |
| Tim Sweeney | Epic Games | Founder and CEO | 1991 |
| Tom Proulx | Intuit | Co-founder; wrote the first version of Quicken | 1983 |
| Tony Thomas | Zoho | Co-founder; leads Zoho US | 1996 |
| Valentin Kipyatkov | JetBrains | Co-founder | 2000 |