# Grey Baker

> Grey Baker is a Cambridge-educated mathematician turned software entrepreneur best known for bootstrapping Dependabot to $14k MRR before selling it to GitHub in 2019, then growing GitHub Advanced Security to $140M ARR. A former McKinsey consultant who taught himself to code in six months, cycled 30,000km around the world between startups, and co-founded YC S23 company Pincites (AI contract negotiation, acquired by Filevine in 2025), he now serves as a Visiting Partner at Y Combinator.

- **Role:** Visiting Partner at Y Combinator
- **Organizations:** Y Combinator, GitHub, Dependabot, Pincites, GoCardless, McKinsey & Company
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** BA (Hons) in Mathematics, University of Cambridge, Diploma in Economics (Distinction, ranked 1/12), University of Cambridge, MPhil in Economics (Distinction, ranked 1/72, Stevenson Prize), University of Cambridge
- **Known for:** Co-founded and bootstrapped Dependabot to $14k MRR with no external funding, Grew GitHub Advanced Security to $140M ARR (13% of GitHub's total revenue), Led integration of Semmle acquisition (50-engineer team) into GitHub

## Career timeline

- **2003-2006** — BA Mathematics, University of Cambridge
- **2007-2009** — Diploma and MPhil in Economics at Cambridge, graduated top of year, awarded Stevenson Prize
- **2009-2011** — Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company - strategy work in retail banking, pharma, healthcare, consumer goods
- **2011-2012** — Self-taught coding in six months after leaving consulting
- **2012-2016** — VP of Product and Engineering at GoCardless (employee #6), scaled company from 6 to 100+ people and £100k to £100M monthly volume
- **2016-2017** — Cycled approximately 30,000km around the world, documented on whereisgreybaker.com
- **2017-2019** — Co-founded Dependabot with Harry Marr - bootstrapped to $14k MRR with 1M+ developer users
- **2019** — Dependabot acquired by GitHub
- **2019-2023** — Senior Director of Product Management at GitHub - launched GitHub Advanced Security ($140M ARR, 13% of GitHub revenue), integrated Semmle (50 engineers), created code scanning and secret scanning
- **2023** — Co-founded Pincites (YC S23) - AI-powered contract negotiation tool with Sona and Mariam Sulakian
- **2025-12** — Pincites acquired by Filevine
- **Ongoing** — Visiting Partner at Y Combinator

## Achievements

- Co-founded and bootstrapped Dependabot to $14k MRR with no external funding
- Grew GitHub Advanced Security to $140M ARR (13% of GitHub's total revenue)
- Led integration of Semmle acquisition (50-engineer team) into GitHub
- Created GitHub's code scanning and secret scanning products
- Scaled GoCardless from 6 employees and £100k/month to 100+ employees and £100M/month
- Graduated top of MPhil Economics class at Cambridge (1/72), awarded Stevenson Prize
- Cycled approximately 30,000km around the world
- Co-founded Pincites (YC S23), acquired by Filevine in December 2025
- Dependabot now used by over 1 million developers and ships natively with GitHub

## Latest updates

- **2025-12** — Pincites, the YC S23 AI contract negotiation company Grey co-founded, was acquired by Filevine on December 22, 2025.
- **2023-07** — Grey Baker joined Y Combinator as a Visiting Partner, working with early-stage founders.
- **2023-03** — Co-founded Pincites with Sona and Mariam Sulakian, joining YC's S23 batch.

## Links

- Website: https://www.greysteil.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greysteil/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/greybaker
- GitHub: https://github.com/greysteil

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/grey-baker
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-09