# Sophie Novati

> Sophie Novati is the CEO and co-founder of Formation, an A16Z-backed engineering fellowship that helps underrepresented software engineers break into top-tier tech companies. A Carnegie Mellon computer science graduate who rose to staff engineer at Facebook and Nextdoor, she founded Formation in 2019 after recognizing that talented engineers from non-traditional backgrounds were being systematically excluded from elite tech roles. Formation pairs adaptive AI-driven learning with mentorship from senior engineers, and its graduates have landed roles at Meta, Google, Netflix, Amazon, and Dropbox, with an average first-year compensation increase of over $100,000. The company has raised $9 million in funding and Novati credits a 2am chess game with Mark Zuckerberg as one early spark for thinking about business models.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Formation
- **Organizations:** Formation, Facebook (Meta), Nextdoor, Allo (YC W19)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
- **Known for:** Raised $9 million in venture funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz, Formation graduates collectively increased annual compensation by $25 million (from $25M to $50M), Average first-year compensation increase for Formation fellows: $89K-$127K

## Career timeline

- **2011** — Joined Facebook as an engineering intern, later became a software engineer. Met Mark Zuckerberg at 2am during a chess game with the interns.
- **2011-2017** — Spent ~6 years as a software engineer across Facebook and Nextdoor, reaching staff engineer level
- **~2017** — Became the second iOS engineer at Nextdoor; built core mobile features and launched the New Hire Buddy Program; raised unit test coverage from 17% to over 50%
- **2019** — Co-founded Allo (YC W19) and simultaneously began Buildschool, a solo mentorship initiative running out of personal savings
- **2019** — Founded Formation (originally Buildschool) with husband Michael Novati to scale engineering mentorship
- **2021** — Raised $4M seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (Connie Chan), with participation from Designer Fund, Combine, Lachy Groom, Slow Ventures
- **2021** — 30+ graduates placed at Facebook, Microsoft, Lyft with average starting salary of $120K; 44% non-male, Black and Latinx graduates nearly double national average
- **2022** — Formation graduates averaged $100,000 in compensation increase; highest offer reached $647K
- **2023** — Raised additional funding bringing total to $9M; launched diversity hiring partnership with Netflix
- **2024** — Formation celebrated five years; graduates' total annual compensation increased from $25M to $50M collectively
- **2024** — Fortune published profile on Zuckerberg chess anecdote; Formation partnered with Netflix, Google, Twitch, Dropbox, Adobe

## Achievements

- Raised $9 million in venture funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz
- Formation graduates collectively increased annual compensation by $25 million (from $25M to $50M)
- Average first-year compensation increase for Formation fellows: $89K-$127K
- Highest single offer secured for a Formation fellow: $647K
- 30+ graduates placed at Facebook, Microsoft, Lyft, Meta, Amazon, Google, Netflix, Dropbox after first year
- Achieved 44% non-male representation among Formation fellows
- Black and Latinx graduate rates nearly double the national university average
- Grew Formation to 300+ employees
- Named speaker at Girl Geek X ELEVATE conference on systems design interviews
- Co-founded Allo, a YC W19 company

## Latest updates

- **2024-08** — Fortune profiled Sophie's story about playing chess with Zuckerberg at 2am and the startup advice he gave her
- **2024-05** — Formation celebrated its fifth anniversary; total annual compensation of alumni grew from $25M to $50M
- **2023-03** — Formation raised additional funding, bringing total raised to $9M; last funding round was Series A
- **2023-01** — Sophie spoke at Girl Geek X ELEVATE Winter conference on systems design interview strategies
- **2021-04** — Formation raised $4M seed led by Andreessen Horowitz's Connie Chan

## Links

- Website: https://formation.dev
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sophienovati
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/sophienovati
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AASLoaVsUhI
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/formationfellowship

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sophie-novati
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-22