Hey, I’m Brennan!
Startup operator · Investor
NowFresh off a stretch as a full-time dad for kid #2, and starting to think about what’s next. Building with AI (my latest side project: littleplans.ca), reconnecting with friends. hmu!
Previously
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AgoraGovernance and compliance for onchain protocols and DAOs. $4B in treasuries governed, $5M+ ARR, $5M+ raised (Haun Ventures).
Head of CX
CX (Customer Experience) has different flavours at different companies. Its primary function is owning the customer journey, either with direct power (e.g. wholly owning a function like onboarding or customer success), or by influence (e.g. collaborating with sales, marketing, prod-eng-design).
At Agora, CX’s key areas of responsibility were onboarding, customer success, and support.
2024–2025
Led onboardingAfter a major kickoff meeting with one of Agora's biggest customers:
, client successWhat my teammates said about how I supported our customers:
, account managementA note from a client:
, and support
for the governance platform behind top crypto protocols. #1 bug catcher.
Wore many other hats, too.I’ll wear whatever hat completes the outfit:
![Slack message in #gen-shoutouts: “So - @Brennan literally went through ALL our PRs. To find PRs that had pics or references to [redacted] without search. Absolute beast. Beast-Mode-Brennan is what I’m gonna call that.”](/assets/agora-many-hats-2-CLpdkn6a.webp)
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AthenaTop‑0.25% executive assistants, plus coaching on how to delegate. 9‑figure ARR, $50M+ raised (Khosla Ventures).
Advisor2023–2024VP Experience
At Athena, CX’s key areas of responsibility were sales, onboarding, customer success, support, and client coaching.
2022–2023
Led the ~40-person CX team across sales, onboarding, client success, support, and client coachingA huge part of Athena's success was (and is) ensuring that our clients could delegate effectively to their executive assistants. My team owned that goal.. Personally owned the relationships with many of Athena's top clients, including a US Governor, an author with 10+ New York Times best-sellers, and a team of surgeons. Notes from my team
and boss
.
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On DeckNetwork and accelerator for founders and their hires. 8‑figure revenue, $60M+ raised (Founders Fund, Tiger Global).
Head of Talent Marketplaces
On Deck’s primary offering was a focused experience to help founders start & scale a company (see joinodf.com).
Most of these startups wanted access to customers, funding, and talent.
On Deck also had communities for Engineers, Designers, PMs, CS leaders, and many others. At its peak, there were >20 programs.
My team’s primary goal was to create and scale the interfaces where these startups & talent could meet.
2021–2022
LedHow my teammates described working with me:
product, GTM, and ops for a high-signalThere were thousands of intro requests on our core product, with >50% accepted, and ~10x better hire rates and signal-to-noise vs. cold emails/DMs. marketplace connecting top startup founders and talent that was a key pillar of On Deck’s entire ecosystem. Founder/CEO: “Brennan is one of the top 5 contributors to the company’s culture” (then, a team of 250). Serial mentor
.
- On Deck ODF4 Founder2020–2021 Participated in ODF. Was so impressed by On Deck that I joined On Deck to lead Talent Marketplaces.
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Mosaic Manufacturing3D printing hardware and software. 8‑figure revenue, $30M+ raised (Techstars & others).
VP GrowthFirst non-technical hire joining a team of genius engineers. Pretty much a dream job. I took everything I could from the COO so he could focus on the highest leverage stuff.2018–2019Head of Growth2016–2017
Led customer success, support, D2COur Shopify storefront; then, our most profitable channel., distributionIncluded network of resellers & 7-figure Amazon channel, selling directly to Amazon., PeopleOps, marketing, partnershipsOwning relationships with key influencers led to media coverage for major product launches, like this., community at a 3D printing startup. Led online community and content. Developed a core signal processing algorithm
Our hardware device produced multi-segment filament on the fly as a 3D printer consumed it. This enabled multi-color and multi-material 3D printing. Our device had a rotary encoder that measured a 3D printer’s filament consumption and created a data stream. I developed the waveform that the 3D printer emitted (and the rotary encoder detected) at various milestones throughout the print, and the signal processing algorithm that allowed our device to detect it, ensuring the correct color/material arrived on the print at the right time.
I discussed this process in depth in Episode I: The Phantom Ping.
of our flagship product.
On the side
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Startups/Investing
Angel Investor
Yeah, “Angel” investing sounds super pretentious, but that’s the lingo! 🤷
I invest in founders across geos and sectors. Most cheques have been ~$10K, but I’ve done as little as $1K and as big as $75K.
Most are at the earliest stages (pre-seed or seed), but a few (Rewind, Overflow, OpenAI) were later (Series A, A, F).
Co-investors have included Sequoia, Tiger Global, Craft, Redpoint, QED, Haun Ventures, Coinbase, Matrix, Uncork, Headline, Base10, Slow Ventures, SOSV, Real Ventures, iNovia, and Y Combinator.
Ultimately, it’s all about the founders.
OpenAI (late), Copy.ai (acquired), Rewind, Wander, Overflow, Agora, Ampersand, Taxwire, Isoform, NoCodeOps (acquired by Zapier), Enophone (acquired), and 5‑10 othersBerryApp (YC W23), Merlin Mobility, Zettlor, and a few more.. - Startups/Investing Limited Partner LP at Union Capital, a fund investing in Canadian founders.
- Startups/Investing Limited Partner LP in On Deck’s runway fund, which invests in ODF founders.
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Venture for CanadaNational charity that trains young Canadians in entrepreneurship and places them at innovative startups and SMEs.
Fellowship Judge & Volunteer
Fellowship selection judge every year 2017–23; most active phone interviewer for the 2017 cohort. Host workshops & create resources to accelerate the growth of Canadian entrepreneurs (Training Camp 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024).
- Founder Programs Advisor & Judge Judged pitch competitions and demo days, and advised student founders, at The Knowledge Society and BETA Camp. Advised founders at Startup Zone, Prince Edward Island’s business incubator.
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Gaming
Competitive Gamer
- 2017PUBG: Top 500 in North AmericaTop 0.08% of players at the time
- 2016League of Legends: MastersTop 0.04% of players at the time