Ryan Bednar

Hey! I'm a software engineer turned founder turned investor. Still not sure how it happened. I co-founded Orange Collective, a YC alumni fund writing the first checks into breakout AI startups.

Before that, I got my start as a founding engineer at SeatGeek, then went through YC twice — Tutorspree (W11) and RankScience (W17). Most of my career has been software, search, and growth — usually all three at once, helping companies like Calm, Zapier, Rippling, and Shutterstock scale search traffic from Google.

When I'm not working, I'm playing or watching basketball, going to indie rock shows, splitting time between SF and the Jersey Shore (and the red-eyes in between), or hanging with my Old English Sheepdog, Rondo.

Startups

Companies I've helped build from scratch.

• RankScience2017
• 7Cups2013
• Tutorspree2011
• SeatGeek2009

Investments

Some of my favorite bets.

• Mastra2025
• PointOne2024
• Garage2024
• Corgi2024
• Henry2024
• StarCloud2024
• Conduit2023
• Trigger.dev2023
• VetRec2023
• Howie.ai2022
• Vanta2018

Side Projects

• Teraz.com2026
• RemoteJobs.org2023
• SeniorSite.org2020