# Hunter Walk

> Hunter Walk is the co-founder and partner at Homebrew, a self-funded seed-stage venture capital firm he built with Satya Patel after careers at Linden Lab (Second Life), Google, and YouTube. He also runs Screendoor LP, backing underrepresented emerging venture managers. His 'Bottom Up Economy' thesis targets scrappy teams of 5-50 taking on category incumbents - and his portfolio hits like Chime, Plaid, and Gusto prove the thesis works. A prolific blogger, former TV assistant, and forever a product person at heart.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & Partner at Homebrew
- **Organizations:** Homebrew, Screendoor LP, YouTube (former), Google (former), Linden Lab (former)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA in History, Vassar College, MBA, Stanford University Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded Homebrew, which backed unicorns including Chime, Plaid, Gusto, and Cruise from seed stage, Led consumer product management at YouTube overseeing billions of daily playbacks globally, Early employee at Linden Lab and key figure in launching Second Life as a virtual world platform

## Career timeline

- **1990s** — Research Assistant at Late Night with Conan O'Brien
- **1990s** — Management consulting
- **late 1990s** — Joined Mattel video game division
- **2000** — Early employee at Linden Lab; founding product & marketing team member for Second Life
- **2003** — Joined Google (~1,000 employees); helped grow AdSense monetization platform
- **2006** — Joined YouTube post-Google acquisition (65 employees); led consumer product management
- **2013** — Co-founded Homebrew with Satya Patel as a traditional LP-backed seed fund
- **2022** — Homebrew decided not to raise another external LP fund; transitioned to self-funded evergreen model
- **2022+** — Launched and expanded Screendoor LP to back underrepresented emerging VC managers

## Achievements

- Co-founded Homebrew, which backed unicorns including Chime, Plaid, Gusto, and Cruise from seed stage
- Led consumer product management at YouTube overseeing billions of daily playbacks globally
- Early employee at Linden Lab and key figure in launching Second Life as a virtual world platform
- Helped grow Google's AdSense into its flagship monetization product
- Created Screendoor LP, a $50M+ initiative backing underrepresented General Partners in venture
- Homebrew transitioned to a rare self-funded evergreen model, backed by its own portfolio proceeds
- Named one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — Continues to run Homebrew as a self-funded evergreen vehicle alongside Screendoor LP
- **2024-12** — Portfolio company Ayar Labs raised a $500M Series E at a $3.75B valuation
- **2024-09** — Active blogging on AI's impact on work and ethics in tech on hunterwalk.com
- **2022-01** — Announced Homebrew would not raise another external LP fund; transitioned to self-funded model

## Links

- Website: https://hunterwalk.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunterwalk
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/hunterwalk
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hunterwalk/

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