Amy Yin
 Amy Yin
growth engineer >> growing and building companies

“I had three careers as an early engineer during the chaotic startup days of Coinbase before founding my first company as a solo founder. I learned how to scale myself through a virtual assistant, offshore hires, AI and building an amazing team around me. I’m excited to straddle being an operator AND investing in world class founders.”

As a venture partner at defy, my role encompasses identifying outstanding entrepreneurs, spearheading new investments, and getting hands-on with our portfolio founders by leveraging my extensive network and experience across some of the leading technology companies of this generation. My connection with defy runs deep – defy backed me as the solo founder of Office Together, which was successfully acquired by Envoy. As the CEO of OfficeTogether, I gained firsthand experience in spearheading ventures from the ground up. My technical journey spans a decade, with engineering roles at Facebook’s Internet.org and at Coinbase, where I served as an Engineering Manager for Coinbase.com during the company’s hypergrowth. Between Facebook and Coinbase, I experienced the ups and downs of an entrepreneurial journey as a software developer at the startup Hired.

With a BA in Computer Science from Harvard, my roots trace back to Onalaska, WI, and I am deeply influenced by the hardworking ethos of my immigrant parents from China. I am also passionate about supporting female technology entrepreneurs, having previously served as a volunteer instructor for Girls Who Code and co-founder of Harvard Women in Computer Science. I live in San Francisco with my partner and two cats and spend significant time in NY, where my last startup was headquartered. San Francisco and NY have expanded my network of engineers and operators, allowing me to support founders as an active angel investor since 2017, with investments in Pave, Lumos, Gem, and On Deck.

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