# Rex Salisbury

> Rex Salisbury is the founder and solo general partner of Cambrian Ventures, a $20M early-stage fintech fund born out of one of the largest fintech founder communities in the US. A former Merrill Lynch banker turned bootcamp-trained software engineer turned a16z partner, Rex built his reputation by running grassroots fintech meetups for years before a single dollar of fund capital. His Cambrian newsletter reaches 20,000 subscribers, his founder-only Slack has 1,100+ members, and his Fund I achieved a ~50% seed-to-Series A graduation rate against a 15.4% industry average. Early backer of Deel, now a $10B+ decacorn.

- **Role:** Founder & General Partner at Cambrian Ventures
- **Organizations:** Cambrian Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Sindeo, Merrill Lynch, Cambrian Fintech Community
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA in Economics and History, Davidson College, Full-Stack Software Engineering (Ruby, CSS, JavaScript), Dev Bootcamp, San Francisco
- **Known for:** Founded one of the largest fintech founder communities in the US (Cambrian, 2016), Founding member of Andreessen Horowitz's fintech practice - helped build one of the most influential fintech VC programs, Early investor in Deel at a16z - became a $10B+ decacorn in global payroll/HR

## Career timeline

- **~2010-2014** — Investment Banking Analyst at Merrill Lynch, focused on real estate sector
- **~2014-2015** — Attended Dev Bootcamp in San Francisco to learn full-stack software engineering
- **~2015** — Software Engineer at Sindeo (mortgage startup), built backend for automated mortgage pre-approval
- **2016** — Founded Cambrian Fintech Community - started as grassroots monthly meetups in San Francisco
- **~2018-2019** — Joined Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) as founding member of their fintech practice
- **2019** — Became formal Partner at a16z fintech; backed Deel and Tally
- **~2021** — Departed a16z to launch Cambrian Ventures as a solo GP
- **2022** — Launched Cambrian Ventures Fund I ($20M); began podcast 'Cambrian Fintech with Rex Salisbury'
- **2025** — Closed Cambrian Ventures Fund II ($20M); portfolio Fund I achieved ~50% Series A rate vs 15.4% industry avg

## Achievements

- Founded one of the largest fintech founder communities in the US (Cambrian, 2016)
- Founding member of Andreessen Horowitz's fintech practice - helped build one of the most influential fintech VC programs
- Early investor in Deel at a16z - became a $10B+ decacorn in global payroll/HR
- Built newsletter to 20,000 subscribers before launching his fund
- Launched 1,100+ member founder-only Slack community (curated, signal-over-noise)
- Fund I achieved ~50% seed-to-Series A graduation rate vs 15.4% industry average across 33 portfolio companies
- Raised two consecutive $20M funds as a solo GP, Fund II closed July 2025 in challenging market
- Hosts 'Cambrian Fintech' podcast covering the future of financial services
- Written for a16z.com, Forbes, EdSurge, and RealClear Markets

## Latest updates

- **2025-07** — Closed Cambrian Ventures Fund II at $20M, with institutional LPs including a bank and life insurance company; achieved ~50% Series A rate for Fund I companies
- **2025-04** — Posted about NYC fintech ecosystem map tracking 55+ companies
- **2025-11** — Podcast episode: 'How Claude's AI Financial Analyst is Changing Investing'

## Links

- Website: https://www.cambrian.vc
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rexsalisbury
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rexsalisbury
- GitHub: https://github.com/resalisbury
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWTQon1aHNql2DLFiXIhjvw

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/rex-salisbury
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-25