# Max Kolysh

> Max Kolysh is a San Francisco-based founder, engineer and investor who co-founded Zinc and Dover. Formerly Dover’s CEO, he is now a visiting partner at Y Combinator and a Dover board member. His public writing examines recruiting economics, hiring operations and early customer acquisition.

- **Role:** Visiting Partner at Y Combinator
- **Organizations:** Y Combinator, Dover, Zinc, Pioneer Fund, Alloy Fund
- **Education:** Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Co-founded two Y Combinator companies: Zinc (W14) and Dover (S19)., Led Dover during its $20 million Series A in July 2021., Reported in his CEO departure announcement that Dover had helped more than 2,000 companies hire.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2014** — Software development internships at Groupon and Palantir, described in his Mixergy interview.
- **2014** — Co-founded Zinc, a Winter 2014 Y Combinator company; served as founder and COO.
- **2017** — Became a senior venture partner at Pioneer Fund, according to Crunchbase.
- **2019** — Co-founded Dover with Anvisha Pai and George Carollo; Dover joined YC Summer 2019.
- **2021** — Dover announced a $20 million Series A led by Tiger Global.
- **2023** — Announced Dover’s free applicant tracking system.
- **2024** — Announced Dover Recruiting Partners, its fractional recruiting offering.
- **2025** — Ended his tenure as Dover CEO; George Carollo succeeded him. Continued as a board member.
- **2026** — Became a visiting partner at Y Combinator and presented a Startup School lesson on finding the first ten customers.

## Achievements

- Co-founded two Y Combinator companies: Zinc (W14) and Dover (S19).
- Led Dover during its $20 million Series A in July 2021.
- Reported in his CEO departure announcement that Dover had helped more than 2,000 companies hire.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Y Combinator published his Startup School video, How to Get Your First 10 Customers, on June 22.
- **2026-10** — Listed as a visiting partner and participant in the upcoming YC x CalHacks afterparty on October 25 in San Francisco.

## Links

- Website: https://maxkolysh.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxkolysh
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/maxkolysh
- GitHub: https://github.com/maxko87
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mkolysh

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/max-kolysh
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23