# Eliot Peper

> Eliot Peper is the bestselling author of twelve speculative thrillers — including Ensorcelled, Foundry, Reap3r, and the Analog trilogy — that explore the collision of technology, power, and culture. Based in Pacifica, CA, he serves as Head of Story at Portola, where he builds the lore and personality behind Tolan, an AI companion startup that went from $1M to $4M ARR in four weeks. A former entrepreneur-in-residence at a VC firm, Latin translator, dengue fever survivor, and avid surfer, Peper writes the books he wants to read — and has earned praise from Seth Godin, Kim Stanley Robinson, Cory Doctorow, Kevin Kelly, and Tim O'Reilly along the way.

- **Role:** Head of Story at Portola
- **Organizations:** Portola
- **From:** Oakland, CA, USA
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Graduate studies in international affairs, Graduate school (institution not specified)
- **Known for:** Authored 12 speculative thrillers praised by Seth Godin, Kim Stanley Robinson, Cory Doctorow, Tim O'Reilly, Kevin Kelly, Ev Williams, and Robin Sloan, Featured in NY Times Book Review, BBC, Popular Science, Businessweek, Harvard Business Review, TechCrunch, The Verge, Ars Technica, and more, Gave talks at Google, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Niantic, Qualcomm, SXSW, Comic Con, and the Conference on World Affairs

## Career timeline

- **2013** — Published debut novel Version 1.0
- **2014-2015** — Published Power Play and Exit Strategy (Uncommon Stock series)
- **2016** — Published Cumulus — breakthrough novel that went viral on Reddit
- **2016** — Published Neon Fever Dream; secured literary agent
- **2017** — Signed with Amazon Publishing
- **2018** — Published Bandwidth and Borderless (Analog trilogy books 1 & 2)
- **2019** — Published Breach (Analog trilogy book 3)
- **2021** — Published Reap3r
- **2022** — Published Veil
- **2023** — Published Foundry (focused on semiconductor industry and AI)
- **2024** — Joined Portola as Head of Story; built world and lore for Tolan AI companion
- **2025** — Published Ensorcelled (October 8); Portola raises $10M then $20M Series A

## Achievements

- Authored 12 speculative thrillers praised by Seth Godin, Kim Stanley Robinson, Cory Doctorow, Tim O'Reilly, Kevin Kelly, Ev Williams, and Robin Sloan
- Featured in NY Times Book Review, BBC, Popular Science, Businessweek, Harvard Business Review, TechCrunch, The Verge, Ars Technica, and more
- Gave talks at Google, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Niantic, Qualcomm, SXSW, Comic Con, and the Conference on World Affairs
- Short story 'Victory Condition' adapted for a sold-out theatrical run
- Co-created the award-winning True Blue website
- Created Dialed, a surf-forecasting app
- Developed the game Machine Learning President
- Head of Story at Portola — built lore for Tolan AI companion as startup hit $4M ARR
- Translated Virgil's Aeneid from original Latin
- Cumulus went viral on Reddit — organic viral moment that launched his career to the next level

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — Published Ensorcelled — a 90-page novelette about rewilding your attention in the digital age, born from bedtime stories told to his infant son
- **2025-07** — Portola raised a $20M Series A to expand Tolan AI companions
- **2025-03** — Portola raised $10M and launched Tolan, the AI companion Peper helped build as Head of Story
- **2024-12** — Published 'The Best Books I Read in 2024' on LinkedIn, an annual tradition
- **2024-01** — Published Foundry, a novel about the semiconductor industry and AI — and personally bought Nvidia shares while researching it

## Links

- Website: https://eliotpeper.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliotpeper/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/eliotpeper
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eliotpeper/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/eliot-peper
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-23