# Kevin Hale

> Kevin Hale is the co-founder of Wufoo, the online form builder acquired by SurveyMonkey in 2011 for $35 million - a 30,000%+ return on just $118,000 raised. A fine arts graduate turned product visionary, he spent seven years as a Y Combinator partner shaping how thousands of founders think about product design, customer love, and growth. Known online as @ilikevests, he's an angel investor, startup educator, and one of the rare designers who built a profitable SaaS company before most people had heard the term.

- **Role:** Angel Investor / Independent
- **Organizations:** Wufoo, Y Combinator, Particletree
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA in Digital Interactive Graphics Arts (DIGA) and English Literature, Stetson University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Wufoo, acquired by SurveyMonkey for $35M in 2011, Generated 30,000%+ return on $118,000 raised - one of the most capital-efficient exits in YC history, Grew Wufoo to 500,000+ users with zero paid advertising for the first 4 years

## Career timeline

- **2000s** — Co-founded Particletree, a web design and development blog with 100K+ monthly readers
- **2006** — Co-founded Wufoo with Chris Campbell and Ryan Campbell; admitted to Y Combinator Winter 2006 batch
- **2006** — Wufoo raised $118,000 total (YC + angels Paul Graham and Paul Buchheit)
- **2007** — Wufoo reached profitability within 9 months of launch
- **2008** — Jakob Nielsen ranked Wufoo as one of the best application UIs of 2008
- **2011** — SurveyMonkey acquired Wufoo for $35 million on April 25, 2011
- **2013** — Joined Y Combinator as a Partner
- **2014** — Delivered Lecture 7 of CS183B at Stanford: 'How to Build Products Users Love'
- **2019** — Built and led Y Combinator's Startup School 2019 curriculum
- **2020** — Left Y Combinator partnership; continued as angel investor
- **2022** — Invested in Stilt Series A ($114M round, March 2022)
- **2026** — Portfolio company DevCycle acquired by Dynatrace (January 2026)

## Achievements

- Co-founded Wufoo, acquired by SurveyMonkey for $35M in 2011
- Generated 30,000%+ return on $118,000 raised - one of the most capital-efficient exits in YC history
- Grew Wufoo to 500,000+ users with zero paid advertising for the first 4 years
- Ranked by Jakob Nielsen as one of the best application UIs of 2008
- Taught 'How to Build Products Users Love' at Stanford CS183B (2014)
- Served as Y Combinator Partner from ~2013 to 2020
- Built and delivered Y Combinator's Startup School 2019 curriculum
- Angel investments in 14+ companies including Zapier, Zeplin, Checkr, Front, Ironclad
- Co-founded Particletree blog with 100,000-125,000 monthly visitors

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Portfolio company DevCycle acquired by Dynatrace
- **2022-03** — Invested in Stilt Series A ($114M round)
- **2020-01** — Departed Y Combinator as Partner; shifted to independent angel investing

## Links

- Twitter/X: https://x.com/ilikevests
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kevin+hale+yc

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kevin-hale
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-05