Alumni Spotlight is pleased to announce The Top 100 Princeton Alumni in Technology of 2021. Princeton University, founded in 1746, has produced some of today’s top innovators. Its mission—to educate leaders who will contribute to society and use their knowledge to make a difference in the world—is embodied in this year’s awardees, who have used technology to develop far-reaching solutions across industries. From Jeff Bezos, who transformed eCommerce through Amazon.com; to Sridhar Vembu, whose software company Zoho Corporation is training the next generation of developers; and to Seth Priebatsch, who revolutionized food services with delivery app Grubhub; these individuals have led their companies to design disruptive technologies that have become synonymous with their respective industries.
Following both graduate and undergraduate programs, this year’s awardees used their Princeton education as the foundation of their thriving careers. Some went on to gain decades of experience that led them to their current roles and others launched entrepreneurial endeavors immediately upon graduating, but all have dedicated themselves to Princeton’s mission to make a global impact. Across artificial intelligence, software, education, public health, financial services, retail, media, and other areas, these individuals are leading teams that are working tirelessly to harness technology to improve experiences for consumers and enterprises worldwide. Please join us in celebrating The Top 100 Princeton Alumni in Technology of 2021.
1. Jeff Bezos
Amazon
Jeff Bezos is the Founder and CEO of multi-national technology company Amazon. In late 2021 he plans to step down from his role as CEO to take on the position of Executive Chairman. Since its founding in 1994, Amazon has grown from an online bookstore to an expansive variety of eCommerce and cloud computing offerings that have become ubiquitous worldwide.
Jeff started his career at Fitel, a fintech company. He then transitioned to a career on Wall Street before becoming an entrepreneur. After founding Amazon, he also founded aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company Blue Origin.
Jeff graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and computer science.
2. Thomas Kurian
Google Cloud
Thomas Kurian is the CEO of Google Cloud. Google Cloud Platform is a tool suite for app developers to build, test, and deploy applications on the Google infrastructure. Thomas began his career in 1990 and has over 31 years of experience in the software industry.
Before joining the company, Thomas was a President at Oracle and before that an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company. Earlier in his career, he worked with McKinsey & Company as a Business Analyst.
Thomas graduated from Stanford University Graduate School of Business with an MBA and from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
3. Sridhar Vembu
Zoho Corporation
Sridhar Vembu is the Founder and CEO of Zoho Corporation, a company offering cloud-based business software. Sridhar founded AdventNet, which later became Zoho, with two of his brothers in 1996. Since then, the company has grown to serve more than 50 million customers with a varied and comprehensive suite of applications. Before founding Zoho, he worked as a wireless engineer for Qualcomm.
In 2004, Sridhar started Zoho Schools, a vocational program to train rural students in software development as an alternative to a traditional university education.
Sridhar graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and from Princeton University with an MS and a PhD in Electrical Engineering.
11. Joseph Lubin
ConsenSys
Joseph Lubin is the CEO of ConsenSys, which he founded in 2014. ConsenSys is a global formation of technologists and entrepreneurs building the infrastructure, applications, and practices that enable a decentralized world.
Previously, Joseph was Co-Founder of Ethereum, CEO at SyNerG Music, and Director at the New York office of Blacksmith Technologies. Early in his career, he worked with Princeton University as a Manager in the Robotics and Expert Systems Laboratory.
Joseph earned an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University.
16. Christine Hunsicker
CaaStle
Christine Hunsicker began her professional career over 20 years ago and is the Founder and CEO of CaaStle. CaaStle is on a mission to create a new economy for apparel.
Christine first got her start in 2000 as a Financial Analyst at Plural. From there, she went on to Cetova, before eventually rising to President and COO of Right Media, then COO at Drop.io, her most recent position prior to founding CaaStle.
Christine graduated from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in English and Medieval Studies.
20. Mark Ellis
Liftoff
Mark Ellis is the Founder and CEO of Liftoff. Liftoff is a complete mobile app marketing platform that helps companies acquire and retain high-quality app users at scale. Mark has over 21 years in the marketing and advertising industry.
Before founding Liftoff, Mark was a VP of Corporate & Business Development at Ooyala and before that COO of a healthcare start-up. He has also worked for Google in strategy and business operations.
Mark received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Master of Philosophy degree in Management Studies from the University of Cambridge. He received an undergraduate degree in Political Psychology from Princeton University.
22. Mark Caputo
U.S. Renal Care
Mark Caputo is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Renal Care. U.S. Renal Care partners with nephrologists and health systems to serve chronic and acute kidney disease patients, offering a full range of services for patients including the best‐in‐class in‐center and at-home dialysis therapies.
Before joining U.S. Renal Care, Mark founded Liberty Dialysis in 2002, which merged with Fresenius Medical Care in 2012. He then served as Managing Partner of Joint Ventures for Fresenius and then Chairman of the Board of Sound Physicians before becoming Vice Chairman at Remedy Partners Inc. Earlier in his career he worked with American Medical Distributors as an Executive Vice President.
Mark earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Princeton University.
View the complete list of awardees.
27. Robert Dykes
Caspian
Robert Dykes is the CEO of Caspian, joining the company in 2018. Caspian invests equity and debt capital in socially responsible, multiple bottom-line businesses delivering financial and social value.
Robert is also CEO of TORA, a cloud-based front-to-back-office technology provider for both the buy and sell side. He was previously CFO at WebPartner, Co-Founder of Axceleon, and CFO at Audiosoft. He began his career as an Associate at Deloitte & Touche LLP.
Robert earned an undergraduate degree in Economics from Princeton University.
31. Frank A. Bonsal, Jr.
New Enterprise Associates
Frank A. Bonsal, Jr. is the Co-Founder of New Enterprise Associates and served as General Partner from 1978–2002. NEA partners with founders to turn big ideas and bold aspirations into the products, services, and solutions that shape the future.
Since retiring from NEA, Frank has continued to serve as Director of Red Abbey Venture Partners and Owner and Managing Partner of Bonsal Capital. He began his career as a General Partner at Alex. Brown and Sons before founding NEA.
Frank earned an undergraduate degree in Economics from Princeton University.
33. Seth Priebatsch
Grubhub
Seth Priebatsch began his professional career over 14 years ago. He joined Grubhub as Head of Enterprise Restaurants in 2018 before rising to become Chief Revenue Officer. Grubhub is a leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery marketplace with the largest and most comprehensive network of restaurant partners, as well as nearly 24 million active diners.
Seth founded his first startup at the age of 12, and at age 18 was Founder and CEO of another, PostcardTech. He studied at Princeton University before dropping out to found SCVNGR, a mobile start-up. His next startup was LevelUp, a mobile ordering and mobile payments platform, which was acquired by Grubhub in 2018.
42. Sasan Amini
Clear Labs
Sasan Amini is the CEO of Clear Labs, which he co-founded in 2014. Clear Labs harnesses the power of next-generation sequencing to simplify complex diagnostics for clinical and applied markets.
Previously, Sasan was Scientific Co-Founder of ProdermIQ, Inc., an Advisor at Mindfull Investors, and a Research Scientist at Illumina.
Sasan completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics after receiving his PhD in Genomics and Systems Biology from Princeton University. He received an undergraduate degree in Biotechnology from the University of Tehran.
47. Geoff Yang
Redpoint Ventures
Geoff Yang is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Redpoint Ventures. Since 1999, Redpoint Ventures has partnered with visionary founders to create new markets and redefine existing ones. Geoff has over 22 years of experience in the Venture Capital and Private Equity industry.
Geoff has founded or invested in several startups, including Rock the Bells, where he is Chairman, and Performance Health Services, where he is CEO. Before founding Redpoint Ventures, he was a General Partner at IVP, a Venture Capital and Private Equity firm.
Geoff graduated from Stanford University Graduate School of Business with an MBA and from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in Engineering.
56. Alexander Bisignano
Phosphorus
Alexander Bisignano is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Phosphorus. Phosphorus provides the back-end infrastructure that enables ubiquitous integration of genetics in medicine and created one of the first saliva-based tests for COVID-19 to be granted an FDA Emergency Use Authorization for at-home collection.
Alexander began his career as Founder and CEO of Chromosoft while simultaneously working as a Project Member and Statistical Consultant for Tyho-Galileo Research Laboratory. He then was the founding CEO of Recombine, a genetic testing company, before founding Phosphorus.
Alexander graduated from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology and Medical Spanish.
58. Evelyn Rusli
Yumi
Evelyn Rusli is the Co-Founder, President, and CMO of Yumi. Yumi is the definitive source for parents seeking to understand what they are feeding their children and why, offering a science-based early childhood meal delivery program that is the most convenient and most nutritional option in the market.
Before founding Yumi, Evelyn spent more than 10 years as a journalist, working as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, AnchorCrunch, and Forbes.com.
Evelyn graduated from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in English.
View the complete list of awardees.
63. Jen Grant
Appify
Jen Grant is the Chief Executive Officer of Appify, joining the company in 2020. Appify is on a mission to bring great software to every employee by making it easy for anyone to build mobile apps that accelerate their work.
Previously, Jen was an Advisor at Homebrew and Chief Marketing Officer at Looker. She has also held marketing roles at Box, Google, and Thin Multimedia.
Jen earned an MBA in Entrepreneurial Marketing from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an undergraduate degree in English and Theater from Princeton University.
67. Justin Zhen
Thinknum Alternative Data
Justin Zhen is the Co-Founder and President of Thinknum Alternative Data. Thinknum, originally created for institutional investors, provides datasets from a broad array of public online sources, capturing unique information on the products, operating markets, and labor markets of over 400,000 global companies across sectors, and provides rich toolsets for extracting intelligence from that data.
Justin began his career as a Senior Analyst at Strategic Investment Fund. Since founding Thinknum, he has served as a Board Member of the XBRL Taxonomy Advisory Group for the FASB and an Official Member of the Forbes Finance Council.
Justin graduated from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in Financial Engineering.
70. Fabrice Grinda
FJ Labs
Fabrice Grinda is the Founding Partner of FJ Labs, which he launched in 2013. FJ Labs is a venture capital and private equity firm that invests in ambitious founders solving big problems.
Previously, Fabrice was Co-Founder and Co-CEO of OLX, Inc., and before that the Founder and CEO of Zingy, Inc. and Aucland S.A. He began his career as a Consultant with McKinsey & Company.
Fabrice graduated from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in Economics.
71. David Stavens
Nines
David Stavens is the CEO of Nines, which he co-founded in 2017. Nines is the first-of-its-kind teleradiology practice.
Previously, David was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Accel. He co-founded Udacity, Inc., serving as CEO before ceding the CEO role to his co-founder and taking over as President and COO. Earlier in his career, he worked as a Business Development Advisor for IO Turbine, Inc. and as a Computer Scientist in the Mars Science Lab at NASA.
David earned a PhD and MS in Computer Science from Stanford University and a BSE in Computer Science from Princeton University.
74. Danielle Cohen-Shohet
GlossGenius
Danielle Cohen-Shohet is the Co-Founder and CEO of GlossGenius, a leading business management and payment solution provider for beauty professionals in the U.S. salon and studio space. GlossGenius enables users to showcase their portfolio of work, send automatic appointment reminders to clients, and manage their calendars and bookings.
Before launching GlossGenius, Danielle was an Alternative Investments Analyst at Goldman Sachs, where she had previously interned in college in the Investment Management Division.
Danielle graduated from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in Economics.
84. Neil Kadagathur
Creditspring
Neil Kadagathur is the Co-Founder and CEO of Creditspring. Creditspring is a membership loan service that makes borrowing simpler and cheaper for those in the UK. Creditspring cares about people’s financial wellbeing and provides a way for people to borrow safely, without falling into a spiral of debt.
Before founding Creditspring in 2016, Neil spent 12 years as Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, where he worked in credit derivatives. Throughout his academic and professional career, his passion has been transforming individuals’ lives through credit.
Neil graduated from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in Economics.
87. Sujay Jaswa
WndrCo
Sujay Jaswa is the Founder and Managing Partner of WndrCo. WndrCo is a holding company that invests in, acquires, develops, and operates consumer technology businesses for the long term.
Sujay first got his start in 2001 as a Business Analyst at McKinsey & Co. From there, he went on to Cisco, before eventually becoming Business Founder, Vice President of Business, and Chief Financial Officer at Dropbox, his most recent position before founding WndrCo.
Sujay graduated from Harvard Business School with an MBA and from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in Economics.
View the complete list of awardees.
90. Marc Blinder
AIKON
Marc Blinder is the CEO of AIKON. He first joined the company as Chief Product Officer in 2017. AIKON provides easy-to-use blockchain solutions for developers and consumers. Its solutions provide multisig wallets and user migration services that connect businesses to a variety of public blockchains.
Previously, Marc was VP of Product Marketing at Drop Kitchen and before that as CEO and Co-Founder at Emmerge. He began his career with Public Affairs Associates as an Associate and Campaign Manager.
Marc earned an undergraduate degree in Politics from Princeton University.
93. Muneeb Ali
Hiro Systems PBC
Muneeb Ali is the CEO and Co-Founder of Hiro Systems PBC. Hiro builds developer tools on the Stacks blockchain, working to enable a user-owned internet on Bitcoin.
Muneeb was previously a Visiting Researcher at SICS and Stanford University and served as Research Staff at TU Delft.
Muneeb graduated from Princeton University with a PhD and MS in Computer Science and from Lahore University of Management Sciences with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Mathematics.
95. Genevieve Ryan Bellaire
Realworld
Genevieve Ryan Bellaire is the Founder and CEO of Realworld. Realworld is an education-first platform helping the next generation thrive on their journey to independence.
Before founding Realworld, Genevieve was an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Case Foundation and an Associate at Goldman Sachs. While in law school, she clerked for the Romney for President Campaign and interned at Fortify Ventures and Main Street Genome.
Genevieve received her JD and MBA degrees from Georgetown University and her undergraduate degree in Politics and International Relations from Princeton University.
99. Jacob Lee
Autocode
Jacob Lee is the Co-Founder of Autocode. Autocode is an online code editor with API autocomplete, instant hosting, and a Standard Library anybody can contribute to. Autocode apps are fully functional internal integrations and tools that extend a user’s favorite online products and services.
Before founding Autocode, Jacob was a Software Engineer at Google and completed a software development internship with the ICU Team at Epic.
Jacob graduated from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science.
View the complete list of awardees.