Carl Cortright
About Me
I build software and help companies. Currently working on something new in stealth mode at a top-tier VC funded AI startup. Excel is a holding company for my own bootstrapped software products (7+ products and counting). I also actively angel invest.
In my free time I love hanging out with my dog, going to the gym, skiing, sobriety, and building software for fun on the side. I'm an engineer and nerd at heart. I believe in the power of technology to grow our world and make it a better place, while still focusing on the parts that make us human.
Experience
Owner
Oct 2024 - PresentExcel Holdings
Holding company for high-growth software projects. wrenchdesk.ai, slackmoji.ai + 7 (and counting) more software experiments.
Angel Investor
Jan 2022 - PresentVarious Companies
Angel investing in early-stage startups across various sectors.
CTO and Cofounder
Nov 2023 - Oct 2024Flyflow (YC S24)
[YC S24] Team was acquired by Rippling. Led engineering.
CEO and Cofounder
Mar 2022 - Nov 2023Coherent
Data infrastructure and APIs in web3. Raised $5.5m from Kindred, Foundry, Matchstick, Chapter One, Coinbase Ventures, and various small funds and angels. Managed team of 10 and owned all aspects of engineering, go-to-market, product etc. Didn't find PMF due to the market. Returned capital.
Coinbase
4 years totalSenior Software Engineer
Aug 2021 - Apr 2022Tech lead on ledgering, transfers, and staking rewards
Coinbase Ventures
Sep 2019 - Apr 2022Coinbase Ventures investment team. Led ~$5m in participating checks in crypto/web3 venture-backed companies
Software Engineer II
Jun 2019 - Aug 2021Coinbase Pro / Trading Platform (margin trading, custodian team)
Software Engineering Intern
May 2018 - Jun 2019Coinbase Commerce + Paradex. Interned Summer 2018 through my last year in school.
Director
Feb 2017 - Jun 2019HackCU
Chief organizer for the largest hackathon in the rocky mountains. Led team of 15 student organizers and managed all aspects of program development, overseeing sub-groups including sponsorship, operations/logistics, and marketing. Raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to host events for thousands of students from Colorado and beyond.
Advisory Board Member - Campus Computing
Mar 2018 - May 2019University of Colorado Boulder
Advisor for all campus computing initiatives at CU Boulder. Worked directly with the chair of CS as well as internal / external advisors to help shape the computing school's experience for students.
Education
Y Combinator
S24Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies
May 2024 - Oct 2024
University of Colorado Boulder
2015 - 2019Bachelor of Science - Computer Science
Grade: 3.7 | Activities: Hack CU, New Venture Challenge
Studied engineering and computer science + half an applied math degree but was too distracted running hackathons to finish it.