Hooman Radfar

Background

Hooman Radfar is a serial entrepreneur and investor, currently serving as Venture Partner at Expa and co-founder and CEO of Collective, a financial back-office platform for self-employed individuals ¹. He is also the founder of 10e9, a personal investment vehicle through which he has backed more than 40 companies ².

Radfar was born in London, England on July 14, 1980, to Iranian parents who immigrated to England in 1979 following the Iranian Revolution, and was subsequently raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ³. His parents were both physicians and entrepreneurs, an upbringing he has described as foundational to his entrepreneurial identity ⁴.

He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 2002 with degrees in computer science and economics, then earned a Master of Science in Information Networking from Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering in 2004 ³. At CMU, he met co-founder Austin Fath, and together they began the research in web services and social networking that would seed their first company ⁵.

Clearspring Technologies / AddThis (2004–2016): Radfar and Fath co-founded Clearspring Technologies in 2004 to build a platform for website developers to grow traffic and engagement through social sharing tools ⁶. The company acquired the AddThis product in 2008 and rebranded as AddThis in 2012 ³. AddThis grew to become one of the most widely used content engagement platforms on the web, reaching 1.9 billion monthly unique visitors across over 15 million mobile and desktop domains ⁶. The company raised over $73 million from institutional investors including IVP and NEA, plus angel investors Steve Case (AOL co-founder), Ron Conway, and Ted Leonsis (former AOL vice chair) ⁵. Oracle acquired AddThis in January 2016 for approximately $200 million ⁶. Radfar served as Chairman after transitioning the CEO role, remaining through the acquisition ².

Expa (2014–present): In September 2014, Radfar joined Expa as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) in San Francisco, attracted by the firm’s “by builders, for builders” ethos ⁷. He became a Founding Partner in 2015, alongside Uber co-founder Garrett Camp and Foursquare co-founder Naveen Selvadurai ¹. At Expa, he launched and led the firm’s early-stage venture investing program, making early investments in companies including Convoy, Fabric, and Sleeper ⁸.

Collective (2020–present): In 2018, Radfar connected with entrepreneur Ugur Kaner, who had identified an opportunity to serve freelancers managing administrative overhead. Together with co-founder Bugra Akcay, they created Collective and launched the platform on September 29, 2020 ⁹. Collective raised an $8.65 million seed round led by General Catalyst and QED Investors, with participation from Gradient Ventures and Expa ⁹. The company raised a $20 million Series A in May 2021 led by General Catalyst and Sound Ventures (Ashton Kutcher’s fund), followed by a $50 million round in July 2023 co-led by Gradient Ventures and Innovius Capital ^{10 11}. Total funding reached $82 million as of July 2023 ¹¹.

Radfar was recognized as a 2023 Tartan on the Rise honoree by Carnegie Mellon University ¹².

Stated Thesis

Radfar has not published a formal public investment thesis, but has described his investment approach in interviews and public appearances.

At Expa, he described the firm’s early focus as targeting companies in markets with trillion-dollar potential, with particular emphasis on basic needs industries like transportation and food ¹³. In 2015 he stated: “Honestly, right now we’re just looking for solid businesses that we can build with people” ¹³.

Through his personal vehicle 10e9, he describes investing broadly across industries rather than restricting to a narrow sector ². Mercury’s investor database describes his approach as: “Hooman invests in all industries” ².

On what he looks for in entrepreneurs, Radfar has cautioned that “some entrepreneurs sound like they know what they’re doing, but they have some areas where there’s no depth” — signaling he values genuine domain expertise over confident presentation ¹³.

He has framed his conviction around the future of work and independent professionals, arguing that freelancers and consultants represent “the largest set of entrepreneurs in the country” and potentially “fifty percent of the workforce” within ten years ¹⁴.

On distribution advantages, he has noted: “When you have a flywheel with effectively a cost of acquisition of zero, it’s uncommon” — suggesting appreciation for businesses with compounding distribution ¹⁴.

Inferred Thesis

Radfar’s publicly verified investment activity is limited and concentrated in his roles at Expa and through 10e9. Based on 11 verified investments across both vehicles (a small and likely incomplete sample), the following patterns emerge:

Sector distribution (based on 11 verified investments): Future-of-work / fintech for the self-employed: 2 of 11 (18%) — Collective, Always Prepped. Logistics / transportation: 1 of 11 (9%) — Convoy. Consumer / entertainment: 2 of 11 (18%) — Sleeper, Sweetgreen. Fintech / compliance: 2 of 11 (18%) — Onfido, Unit. Infrastructure / developer tools: 1 of 11 (9%) — Fabric. Food / sustainability: 1 of 11 (9%) — Thrive Market. Other consumer: 1 of 11 (9%) — Hinge. SpaceX: 1 of 11 (9%).

Note: This table represents a small and incomplete subset of a claimed 40+ investment portfolio via 10e9 alone. Percentages are provisional and should not be treated as reliable sector breakdowns.

Stage focus: Radfar’s investments through Expa were concentrated at seed and early Series A (Sleeper seed 2017 at $2M, Convoy seed/early, Fabric early). His angel activity through 10e9 appears to span seed through growth (including SpaceX, which was late-stage at time of investment). Mercury and Signal both list him investing at pre-seed through Series B+ ².

Check size: Signal and Mercury both report a typical check size of $25,000–$50,000 for his personal angel activity through 10e9 ². Expa’s institutional investments were larger (Expa led or co-led seed rounds of $2M+).

Founder profile preference: His public statements consistently emphasize operators and technical founders with genuine domain depth — people who have lived the problem they’re solving. His own companies (AddThis, Collective) were both built around personal expertise: distributed web infrastructure and the back-office burden of the self-employed ⁸.

Co-investor patterns: Through Expa, he co-invests alongside Garrett Camp. His broader network includes Gokul Rajaram, Josh Elman, and James Currier (NFX) ². Collective’s investor syndicate includes General Catalyst, QED Investors, Gradient Ventures, and Sound Ventures.

Operator-investor profile: Radfar is primarily an operator (CEO of Collective) who invests on the side. His 10e9 check sizes ($25K–$50K) suggest he participates as an angel or advisor rather than a lead investor in most deals outside of the Expa context.

Notable pattern: Radfar’s verifiable investments cluster heavily around companies he knew through the Expa network (Convoy, Fabric, Sleeper) or companies directly related to his own operating work (Collective). His claimed portfolio of 40+ companies via 10e9 is largely unverifiable through public sources.

Portfolio

Note: This table represents approximately 11 of a claimed 40+ investments made through 10e9, plus select Expa portfolio investments. Years marked with “~” are approximate, estimated from fund timeline or company founding context. Uber, Hinge, Sweetgreen, Thrive Market, and SpaceX are listed across multiple aggregator profiles but specific round participation dates could not be independently verified from primary sources. This sample is too small and likely incomplete for reliable sector percentages.

In Their Own Words

On company culture versus perks: “You hit a recession and those things go away. What are you about?” ¹³

On learning from others: “Listen twice as much as you talk.” ¹³

On VC interest signals: “When VCs tell you your idea is ‘interesting,’ they’re not interested.” ¹³

On entrepreneurship and immigrants: “America is built on entrepreneurship. Immigrants come with nothing, build businesses and create wealth, and that’s what makes America great.” ¹⁷

On the future of remote work: “Remote is irreversible and an accelerating trend. It’s something that if you don’t factor in everything that you’re doing, you’re not going to come up with the right strategy.” ¹⁷

On his approach to problem-solving as a founder: “Assume you know nothing. Your experience can be a tool, but it’s tempting sometimes to use that experience.” ¹⁸

On continuous improvement: “If you’re not evolving, somebody is coming for you if you want to play in the game.” ¹⁸

On Collective’s mission: “Can we enable people to focus on what they love? — their passion, not their paperwork.” ⁸

On entrepreneurial drive: “I have this theory that many entrepreneurs have some form of ‘tolerable trauma’ that fuels their drive.” ⁴

On his time at CMU: “CMU was transformative. The work ethic, excellence standards, tactical skills, and mentor support were invaluable. I genuinely don’t believe I could have achieved this without attending Carnegie Mellon.” ¹²

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found. Expa’s Founder Spotlight page on Collective, authored by Radfar himself as a portfolio founder, describes Expa’s approach as providing concentrated support without spreading resources thin across many projects — but this is Radfar’s own characterization of Expa as an investor in his company, not an independent third-party founder testimonial ⁸.

Sources