# Faisal Younus

> Faisal Younus is co-founder and CEO of Pillar, a platform for creator stores, digital products, and brand partnerships. His background includes Harvard studies, Lead Edge Capital, and Harvard Ventures; his company participated in Y Combinator’s Summer 2019 batch under its earlier name, Athlane.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Pillar
- **Organizations:** Pillar (formerly Athlane), Lead Edge Capital, Harvard Ventures, Swellbox, Y Combinator
- **Education:** Harvard University, Syosset High School
- **Known for:** Co-founded a Y Combinator S19 company., 2016 New York State Student Congress champion, documented by Syosset schools., 2016 national Congressional Debate top-six finisher, documented by Syosset schools; his LinkedIn profile specifies third place.

## Career timeline

- **2016** — Named a Student Congress state champion and a top-six Congressional Debate finisher at the NSDA national tournament in Syosset’s summer newsletter.
- **2016-2017** — Listed Acropay, a mobile self-checkout project, on his LinkedIn profile.
- **Before Pillar** — Worked in product and strategy at Swellbox and in investing at Lead Edge Capital; also associated with Harvard Ventures.
- **2019** — Co-founded Athlane with Michael Ivkov; the company joined Y Combinator’s Summer 2019 batch.
- **2020** — Appeared on Founders Couch to discuss YC and taking leave from Harvard; Athlane announced $3.3 million in funding that July.
- **2021** — Pillar, formerly Athlane, was profiled for connecting creators and brands.
- **2025** — Spoke at Harvard Business School’s Entrepreneurship Summit and announced partnerships involving Interact, Snapchat, and GoFundMe.

## Achievements

- Co-founded a Y Combinator S19 company.
- 2016 New York State Student Congress champion, documented by Syosset schools.
- 2016 national Congressional Debate top-six finisher, documented by Syosset schools; his LinkedIn profile specifies third place.
- Spoke on entrepreneurial sales at Harvard Business School’s 2025 Entrepreneurship Summit.

## Latest updates

- **2025-07** — Announced a GoFundMe partnership allowing donation portals to appear directly on Pillar storefronts.
- **2025-06** — Pillar published its Snapchat media-kit integration announcement on June 28; Younus also publicly announced audience analytics integration.
- **2025-04** — Posted about speaking at Harvard Business School’s Entrepreneurship Summit.
- **2025-01** — Announced the Interact partnership for embedding quizzes in Pillar stores.

## Links

- Website: https://pillar.io/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faisal-younus

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/faisal-younus
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-09