# Andrew Laffoon

> Andrew Laffoon is the co-founder and CEO of Mixbook, the photo-product company he started with fellow UC Berkeley alumnus Aryk Grosz in 2006. Across two decades, he has steered the business from collaborative yearbooks and a viral Facebook app to customizable photo books, mobile creation and AI-assisted storytelling, while keeping the company focused on helping people turn scattered images into shared keepsakes.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Mixbook
- **Organizations:** Mixbook, Mosaic
- **Education:** B.S., Industrial Engineering and Operations Research; Certificate in Engineering Management and Innovation, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Co-founded Mixbook in 2006 and has remained its CEO through two decades of product evolution., Named with Aryk Grosz to Inc.'s 2012 list of 30 entrepreneurs under 30., Named as an inventor on US patents covering intelligent saving and relative-coordinate display methods for online collage editors.

## Career timeline

- **1997** — Began working as an independent web developer.
- **1999** — Joined Morning Star International as an IT developer.
- **2004** — Worked at Active Reasoning in technical and product roles.
- **2005** — Completed his UC Berkeley engineering degree and entrepreneurship certificate.
- **2006** — Co-founded Mixbook with fellow Berkeley alumnus Aryk Grosz.
- **2007** — Launched Mixbook's photo-book product after beginning with a collaborative yearbook concept.
- **2008** — Mixbook's Photobooks Facebook app reached 2 million users; the company secured an early institutional round after extensive investor rejection.
- **2011** — Mixbook raised a $10 million Series B led by Level Equity.
- **2012** — Mixbook acquired the Yobongo team and introduced the Mosaic mobile photo-book experience.
- **2014** — A second US patent naming Laffoon as an inventor for online collage editing was issued.
- **2026** — Mixbook marked its twentieth year and introduced Story Mode, an AI-assisted photo-book workflow.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Mixbook in 2006 and has remained its CEO through two decades of product evolution.
- Named with Aryk Grosz to Inc.'s 2012 list of 30 entrepreneurs under 30.
- Named as an inventor on US patents covering intelligent saving and relative-coordinate display methods for online collage editors.
- Led Mixbook through a $10 million Series B round led by Level Equity in 2011.
- Helped turn the viral Photobooks Facebook app into a focused, profitable photo-product business.
- Oversaw the launches of Mosaic, Montage and Mixbook Story Mode as successive attempts to reduce the work of making photo books.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Discussed Mixbook's twentieth anniversary and the design of Story Mode on The Dead Pixels Society podcast.
- **2026-07** — Appeared on Breakthrough AI Operators to discuss Story Mode, founder development and rebuilding a mature consumer business around generative AI.
- **2026-06** — Mixbook launched Story Mode, an AI-assisted workflow that interviews users and creates an editable photo-book draft.

## Links

- Website: https://www.mixbook.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewlaffoon
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/mixbook
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/mixbook
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixbook
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mixbook

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/andrew-laffoon
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-26