Baukunst takes a collective approach to company building. We specialize in doing new things well.
We build companies. And also—we build the communities, experiences, and products that shape how companies are built.
The true art of building lies in setting the right culture and scene for something new & meaningful to begin, grow, scale, and endure.
“A few years ago I came up with a new word. I was fed up with the old art-history idea of genius the notion that gifted individuals turn up out of nowhere and light the way for all the rest of us dummies to follow. I became (and still am) more and more convinced that the important changes in cultural history were actually the product of very large numbers of people and circumstances conspiring to make something new. I call this ‘scenius’ - it means ‘the intelligence and intuition of a whole cultural scene’. It is the communal form of the concept of genius.”
Brian Eno
Team
The Baukunst partnership has shipped over fifty first generation technology products (including the first iPhone) and co-founded multiple startups.
We have been the first check investor in over seventy technology companies and helped them scale to multi-billion dollar impact.
We are interdisciplinary technologists and invest as a team with founders at the center.
Axel Bichara
Co-Founder/General Partner
Co-founded two acquired startups. Raised & invested $2.8B as managing partner. Thirty years as first round lead investor & company builder. GP at Atlas Venture & Bolt.
Kate McAndrew
Co-Founder/General Partner
Over a decade as a first round lead investor & board member, investing in 100+ pre-seed companies. Built Bolt’s venture capital practice and community presence over two successful funds. Founder of Women In Hardware, the largest and longest running network for technical women in the hardware ecosystem.
Matt Thoms
Co-Founder/General Partner
Founding team & early operator/CEO at four emerging tech startups. Nine years as first round lead investor, company builder, & board member at Allied Minds & Bolt.
Tyler Mincey
Co-Founder/General Partner
Fifteen years design, product, & engineering, including leading teams that built the first iPhone and many generations of iPods. Founding team of Pearl Automation, five years investing at Bolt.
Mary Courtney-O'Sullivan
CFO
Over 25 years as a senior financial executive in global private equity, banking, and Big 4 CPA. Prev VP Finance at Advent International.
Fern Massar
Admin / Ops
Fifteen years of exec admin, operations, and event production across finance, fashion, startups, and hospitality. Textile artist.
Collective Members
Masters of their craft, able to define and redefine the bounds of their domain—not simply work within them.
Their subject matter expertise is interdisciplinary and deeply impactful during the magic early days of building products and companies.
Charles Adler
Kickstarter Co-founder, Lost Arts, Moon Creative Lab
Dulcie Madden
Co-founder / CEO Dig Energy, prev Rest Devices, The Engine
Ying Liu
CEO Blue Lake Packaging, Apple Director Manufacturing Ops and Sustainability
David Tupman
Apple iPhone/iPod VP Engineering
Braden Ball
Co-founder Threaded Manufacturing, prev Tesla, Rivian, Carbon
Helen Wang
Chair of UCSD Institute for Supply Chain & Innovation, Google X, Apple, Foxconn
Steph Ango
CEO Obsidian, Host of Well Made podcast, Lumi Co-founder/CPO
Jeff Schox
Founding Partner Schox Patent Group
Zach Lieberman
MIT Media Lab, School for Poetic Computaton
Reggie James
Eternal CEO / Co-founder
Megan Klimen
Founding Officer Filecoin Foundation
Raul Gutierrez
Founder / CEO Picture Studio, prev Tinybop
Jean Olivieri
Fictiv COO, Apple, Space X, Motorola
Meghan Harvey
Co-founder / President Bindery, prev CSO Girl Friday Productions, Adidas
Matt Kaye
Co-Founder / CEO Bindery, prev Head of Product Patreon, Zillow, Amazon
Brian Sander
Apple Director iPod Eng, General Magic
Carson Darling
Co-founder / CTO Five Flute, prev Rest Devices
Alex Feerst
General Counsel Neurolink, Medium
Allan Yu
Co-founder at Synthetic Traffic, prev design at Shopify, Facebook, Google, Svpply
Laura Modi
Bobbie Co-founder, Airbnb
Josh Brewer
Abstract Co-founder, Twitter
Jesse Genet
Lumi Co-founder
Jacob Bijani
Co-Founder Synthetic Traffic, prev Tumblr, Electric Objects, Thinko
Hannah Donovan
Google, VSCO, Vine, Drip, Trash, Last.fm
Bret Recor
Co-founder and Creative Director Box Clever
Jack Moldave
Co-founder / CTO Eyebot, prev Form Labs
Barry Corlett
Dyson, Microsoft Hololens, Apple Silicon
Josef Waltl
Founder / CEO Software Defined Automation, prev Microsoft Azure Industrial, AWS, Siemens
Nichole Rouillac
Founder and Creative Director at Level
Travis Schmeisser
Founder / CEO Omnibus, prev Design Director at Square, 80/20, Structure, Flight Labs
Ray Hatoyama
Sanrio CEO, Pokemon, LINE, DeNA, Mitsubishi
Dan Fink
Founder / CEO Elevate Foods, prev Butcherbox
Lauryn Menard
Co-Founder + Creative Director at PROWL
William Burke
Co-Founder / CEO Five Flute, prev Cooper Perkins, Plethora
Matt Verminski
VP Eng Desktop Metal, Kiva, Amazon Robotics
Thomas Lipoma
Co-Founder / CTO Dig Energy, prev Rest Devices
Ryan Mason
Co-Founder Threaded Manufacturing, prev Square, Lambda School
Vadik Marmeladov
Founder LOT2046, Lapka
Nicholas Johnson
Founder / CEO Orange Charger, prev Tesla, LYT
Steve Reinmuth
Founder and Creative Director SOME DAYS, Nike, COLLINS
Cameron Koczon
Founder Fictive Kin, Lager
Matthias Hofmann
Co-founder / CEO Eyebot, Prev 123 SEE, Formlabs, EyeNetra
Sarah Hardy
Bobbie Co-founder, Airbnb
Jamie Wilkinson
DeWi Alliance, VHX, Vimeo, Kickstarter
and more...
We have ~100 members in total and slowly growing
Founders
Interdisciplinary in nature, creative technologists have unique insights into unexplored areas of opportunity.
They craft transformative product experiences, inspire teams along the way, and build companies we can be proud of.
The products and systems they design often defy comfortable categorization.
Technologist
Technology inflection
- Cloud democratizing AI, deep learning, & limitless data storage
- Crypto protocols & blockchain enabling decentralized applications, networks, and currencies
- Edge computing & system-on-chips putting secure, on-device AI & ML in your pocket
- Capable, cheap sensors & next gen mobile networks changing the economics of data collection & analytics
- On-demand, additive mfg & agile, data-driven supply chain accelerating design cycles & mass customization
Creative
Cultural change
- Gen Z gaining disposable income & joining the workforce; Millennials becoming key corporate decision makers
- Remote work & collaboration becoming the norm, reshaping community and work structures
- Erosion of trust in traditional institutions and pending regulation of Big Tech
- Consciousness raising around ad-based attention economy, data privacy, and income inequality
- Consumer demand for climate crisis action influencing enterprises