# John Taylor Garner

> John Taylor Garner is the New York-based founder and CEO of Odynn, a travel and loyalty infrastructure company serving banks, fintechs and card issuers. A former Merrill Lynch volatility trader, he founded Card Curator in 2018 after planning a points-funded trip, then founded Odynn in 2022. He holds degrees from Dartmouth and Wharton; Odynn announced a $9.5 million seed round in February 2026.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Odynn
- **Organizations:** Odynn, Card Curator, Merrill Lynch, Wharton FinTech Club, Penn Association of Native Alumni, Native American Alumni Association of Dartmouth
- **Education:** B.A., Economics and Psychology, Dartmouth College, MBA; Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Marketing Analytics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Created the CardArb rewards optimization algorithm., Built Card Curator before founding Odynn., Odynn announced a $9.5 million seed round led by Bonfire Ventures and co-led by Fiat Ventures on February 19, 2026.

## Career timeline

- **2013** — Graduated from Dartmouth with a B.A. in Economics and Psychology.
- **Before 2018** — Spent approximately six years trading volatility at Merrill Lynch.
- **2017** — Planned a two-week Korea and Japan trip with three friends using credit card rewards; the experience inspired Card Curator.
- **2018** — Left Merrill Lynch and began building Card Curator with Bruce Garner.
- **2019** — Card Curator mobile alpha offered to 200 friends and family members in November.
- **2020-2022** — Studied for an MBA at Wharton and met future co-founder and CTO Anuj Patel.
- **Late 2021** — Decided with co-founders to close the consumer business and pivot toward institutional travel and loyalty infrastructure.
- **2022** — Founded Odynn in January; graduated from Wharton.
- **2024** — Presented Awayz with Anuj Patel at FinovateFall.
- **2025** — Odynn announced its Monkey Miles partnership in May.
- **2026** — Odynn announced a $9.5 million seed round in February and powered Rentd’s UK travel rewards launch in September.

## Achievements

- Created the CardArb rewards optimization algorithm.
- Built Card Curator before founding Odynn.
- Odynn announced a $9.5 million seed round led by Bonfire Ventures and co-led by Fiat Ventures on February 19, 2026.
- Received the Edward B. Shils & Leonard L. Zeidman Fellowship in Entrepreneurship in December 2021.
- Received Wharton’s Venture Lab Startup Internship Award in June 2022.
- Received a Finovate Fall BIPOC Founded Scholarship in September 2024.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Rentd launched UK rewards banking with travel and loyalty capabilities powered by Odynn.
- **2026-04** — Discussed Odynn’s origin, team, fundraising and product plans in Founder Uncovered.
- **2026-03** — Discussed modular infrastructure, customers and the company’s long-term ambitions in a citybiz Q&A.
- **2026-02** — Odynn announced a $9.5 million seed round led by Bonfire Ventures and co-led by Fiat Ventures.

## Links

- Website: https://www.odynn.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-taylor-garner

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/john-taylor-garner
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-08