# Kurt Lin

> Kurt Lin, also known professionally as Kurtis Lin, co-founded Pinwheel with Curtis Lee and Anish Basu in 2018. After leading the payroll connectivity company as founding CEO, he became executive chairman in July 2025. His earlier career included business development at Idean, growth and operations at Luxe, and a bicycle-theft prevention venture while attending UCLA.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & Executive Chairman at Pinwheel
- **Organizations:** Pinwheel, Luxe, Idean, OuterSignal
- **Education:** University of California, Los Angeles
- **Known for:** Co-founded Pinwheel and led it as founding CEO until July 2025., Pinwheel reported $77 million in total funding by the time of the CEO transition., In his 2025 transition post, Lin reported an eight-figure annual recurring revenue business and hundreds of customers.

## Career timeline

- **During university** — Started a bicycle-theft prevention hardware venture while at UCLA.
- **2014-2015** — Worked in business development and partnerships at Idean, according to his Wellfound profile.
- **2015-2018** — Worked in growth and operations at Luxe; met future Pinwheel co-founder Curtis Lee there.
- **2017** — Luxe was acquired by Volvo.
- **2018** — Co-founded Pinwheel with Curtis Lee and Anish Basu.
- **2020** — Pinwheel emerged publicly in June; Lin later recalled 133 inbound inquiries in 72 hours.
- **2021** — Pinwheel raised a $20 million Series A.
- **2022** — Pinwheel raised a $50 million Series B led by GGV Capital.
- **2025** — Became executive chairman on July 23; CFO Jaimeson Rice succeeded him as CEO.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Pinwheel and led it as founding CEO until July 2025.
- Pinwheel reported $77 million in total funding by the time of the CEO transition.
- In his 2025 transition post, Lin reported an eight-figure annual recurring revenue business and hundreds of customers.
- Represented Pinwheel in Nasdaq’s Embedded Fintech 50 video series in February 2023.

## Latest updates

- **2025-07** — Moved from founding CEO to executive chairman of Pinwheel; Jaimeson Rice became CEO.
- **2026-01** — Publicly expressed support for OuterSignal in a comment on Zach Zelner’s launch post. His LinkedIn profile also lists an OuterSignal affiliation; the publicly visible profile does not specify a title.

## Links

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

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kurt-lin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21