# Chris Dean

> Chris Dean is the co-founder and CEO of Treasury Prime, a banking software company he started with Jim Brusstar in 2017. A former machine-learning researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he previously held CTO roles at Standard Treasury and Silicon Valley Bank’s API banking group. His public story includes Y Combinator’s Winter 2018 batch, a difficult 2024 bank-direct restructuring and a beekeeping hobby.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Treasury Prime
- **Organizations:** Treasury Prime, Standard Treasury, Silicon Valley Bank, Merced Systems, Kyluka, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- **Education:** California Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Co-founded Treasury Prime., Served as CTO at Standard Treasury before its acquisition by Silicon Valley Bank., Built banking API software across Standard Treasury, Silicon Valley Bank and Treasury Prime.

## Career timeline

- **—** — Worked in the Machine Learning Systems Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
- **—** — Founded or co-founded Merced Systems and Kyluka.
- **2014** — Joined Standard Treasury as CTO.
- **2015** — Standard Treasury was acquired by Silicon Valley Bank; Dean became CTO of API banking.
- **2017** — Co-founded Treasury Prime with Jim Brusstar.
- **2018** — Treasury Prime joined Y Combinator’s Winter batch.
- **2024** — Led Treasury Prime’s shift to bank-direct sales, accompanied by layoffs.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Treasury Prime.
- Served as CTO at Standard Treasury before its acquisition by Silicon Valley Bank.
- Built banking API software across Standard Treasury, Silicon Valley Bank and Treasury Prime.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Dean published Treasury Prime’s report of $170 billion in trailing annual money movement, 100 million-plus transactions and four million-plus accounts.
- **2026-06** — Treasury Prime announced Prime Cash with Green Dot’s Arc platform and retail cash network.
- **2026-05** — Treasury Prime appointed Travis Champion VP of Revenue.
- **2025-12** — Treasury Prime launched its AI Marketplace for bank-fintech matching.

## Links

- Website: https://www.treasuryprime.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ctdean
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ctdean
- GitHub: https://github.com/ctdean

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/chris-dean
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23