Jordan Crook

Partner, Betaworks at Betaworks

Reviewed Updated May 1, 2026

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Location New York, New York
Check Size ~$500K (Camp); pre-seed/seed direct checks via Betaworks Fund III
Last Verified Investment Granola (Series A) — Oct 23, 2024
Social @jordanrcrook LinkedIn
Stage Focus
pre-seed seed
Sector Focus
AI agents ai-interfaces consumer application-ai

Background

Jordan Crook is a Partner at Betaworks, the New York City-based startup studio and seed-stage venture firm founded by John Borthwick in 2007 12. She holds a degree from New York University with a double major in English Literature and Philosophy 1.

Before joining Betaworks, Crook spent 12 years at TechCrunch, where she rose to Deputy Editor 13. As a reporter, she became known for being among the first to cover consumer apps that later became widely used, including Bumble and Yik Yak 1. In her later years at the publication she led product development and business operations across TechCrunch’s events, podcasts, and premium subscriptions 1.

At Betaworks, Crook is the named partner on multiple Fund II/Fund III deals, including Granola (AI meeting notetaker), Hopscotch Labs, and Tato 1. She is also the public-facing author of “Announcing Betaworks Fund 3.0” — the firm’s July 2025 announcement of its $66M third fund focused on agents, native AI interfaces, and application-layer AI 45. As a partner alongside founder and CEO John Borthwick, Crook is one of the key voices framing the firm’s current investing direction 145.

Stated Thesis

(Self-reported: drawn from Crook’s public statements at Betaworks events, in podcast interviews, and in Betaworks’ own announcements.)

In the Betaworks Fund III announcement she authored, Crook described the firm’s continuing model: “Around these themes, we will continue to do straight seed investing and the Betaworks Camps” 5. The themes referenced are agents, native AI interfaces, and application-layer AI 45.

On AI application strategy specifically, Crook has stated: “Going after something very specific and doing it very well for a clear set of users is more likely to succeed than being a generalized assistant” 6. On Betaworks’ methodology versus a traditional accelerator: “We’re not just an accelerator; we’re deeply product-focused” 6.

On what she looks for in founders, Crook has described the balance she wants to see as “90% confidence and optimism, and 10% pragmatism… If the pragmatism doesn’t shine through, you sound crazy” 6. Her standard pre-investment ask of founders is: “Prove that you’ve run experiments, taken data in a time-boxed way, and made decisions based on that data” 6.

Inferred Thesis

Public information on Crook’s individually attributed deals is more limited than on Betaworks the firm. The patterns below are based on the small set of deals she is publicly credited with leading (Granola, Hopscotch Labs, Tato), the Fund III announcement she authored, and her interview record at Betaworks since joining ~2020 14578.

Stage: Pre-seed and seed, in line with Betaworks firm-wide discipline. Camp companies receive standard ~$500K checks; direct Fund III investments are pre-seed and seed checks, with a stated plan of “at least 25 pre-seed to seed investments” plus “at least 50 investments into startups as part of the Betaworks Camp program” across the fund 45.

Sectors: AI applications, AI-native interfaces, and AI agents. The deals Crook is publicly credited with leading are concentrated in this band — Granola is an AI meeting notetaker; Hopscotch Labs and Tato are AI-native consumer/developer products at Camp 1. This is also the explicit Fund III thesis she co-authored 45.

Founder profile signal: Her own framing emphasizes founder communication and decision-making evidence over pure pedigree: “the most important thing that helped me learn about the character and potential of a founder is not just what they’ve done, how they talk about it” 6. Combined with the “run experiments, taken data in a time-boxed way” bar, this points to a preference for founders who can demonstrate iteration discipline pre-investment 6.

Concerns and contrarian lens. On AI risks, Crook has flagged misinformation as her primary worry, not existential risk: “Without a source of ground truth, we’re all lost” 6. This is consistent with Betaworks’ broader contrarian stance on the “AI superintelligence” framing that dominates Silicon Valley discourse (see John Borthwick’s statements on the firm’s contrarian AI posture) 9.

Sample size caveat. The set of deals individually attributed to Crook in public sources is small (3 named deals — Granola, Hopscotch Labs, Tato — plus her share of Camp and direct Fund III activity since 2020). Her total footprint is likely larger but not all publicly attributed. Treat the patterns above as directional.

Portfolio

Deals where Crook is the publicly named partner-of-record or where she has been the public Betaworks voice on the investment:

Company Year Stage / Role Source
Granola 2023-05 Seed participant ($4.25M led by Lightspeed); Crook named as Betaworks partner on the deal 11011
Granola 2024-10 Series A ($20M+); Crook publicly associated with the Betaworks position 11
Hopscotch Labs post-2020 Betaworks investment; Crook named as the partner on the deal 1
Tato post-2020 Betaworks investment; Crook named as the partner on the deal 1

Note: As Partner at Betaworks since ~2020, Crook has additional Camp and Fund II/III exposure beyond what is individually attributed in public sources. The table reflects only deals where she is specifically named.

In Their Own Words

On Betaworks Fund III (Crook, “Announcing Betaworks Fund 3.0,” July 2025):

“Today, we’re thrilled to announce that we’ve closed $66 million for Betaworks Fund 3.0” 5

“Betaworks started just like any other venture-backed company, but the product we delivered was startups.” 5

“Around these themes, we will continue to do straight seed investing and the Betaworks Camps” 5

On the 2024-2025 fundraising environment (Crook, quoted in TechCrunch, July 22, 2025):

“The fundraising environment in venture was challenging in 2024, and we weren’t exempt, given that we were upsizing our fund” 4

On AI application strategy (Crook, Lynx Collective interview):

“Going after something very specific and doing it very well for a clear set of users is more likely to succeed than being a generalized assistant” 6

On Betaworks’ methodology (Crook, Lynx Collective interview):

“We’re not just an accelerator; we’re deeply product-focused” 6

On founder evaluation (Crook, Lynx Collective interview):

“I think the most important thing that helped me learn about the character and potential of a founder is not just what they’ve done, how they talk about it” 6

“90% confidence and optimism, and 10% pragmatism… If the pragmatism doesn’t shine through, you sound crazy” 6

On her pre-investment ask of founders (Crook, Lynx Collective interview):

“Prove that you’ve run experiments, taken data in a time-boxed way, and made decisions based on that data” 6

On AI risk (Crook, Lynx Collective interview):

“Without a source of ground truth, we’re all lost” 6

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials specifically about working with Jordan Crook were located through dedicated search at the time of this profile. Founders considering working with Crook or Betaworks should seek direct reference calls with portfolio CEOs (Granola, Hopscotch Labs, Tato, current Camp alumni) rather than relying on public testimonials.

Connections

  • Betaworks — Partner since ~2020. Works alongside founder and CEO John Borthwick, who has led Betaworks since 2007 12. (See data/investors/john-borthwick.md.)
  • Betaworks team (current and recent partners): John Borthwick (Founder/CEO/Managing Partner), Jon Chin (Operating Partner), Analisa Svehaug (Director, Camp), Lauren Olson (Fund Operations Manager); prior Fund I partners included Matt Hartman and Peter Rojas 12.
  • TechCrunch alumni network (2007-2019 era). As Deputy Editor at TechCrunch for ~12 years, Crook overlapped with the publication’s editor and reporter cohort across the 2010s 13. Notable TechCrunch alumni who moved into investing or operating roles during her tenure include Connie Loizos (now StrictlyVC / TechCrunch venture editor), MG Siegler (GV / Crazy Stupid Capital), and Josh Constine (SignalFire) — though no independently verified personal-relationship citation is provided here.
  • Granola portfolio relationships. As the Betaworks partner on the Granola seed (May 2023) and Series A (October 2024), Crook is a co-investor alongside Lightspeed Venture Partners (Granola seed lead), Spark Capital, and other Granola backers 1011.
  • Public Betaworks events. Hosts and speaks at Betaworks “Inside” events showcasing the firm’s Camp and Fund III work 7.

Sources

  1. Betaworks team page (Jordan Crook bio, role, TechCrunch background, NYU degree, named deals: Granola, Hopscotch Labs, Tato), accessed May 2026. https://www.betaworks.com/team↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  2. Betaworks — Wikipedia, accessed May 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betaworks↩↩↩

  3. Jordan Crook LinkedIn profile (Partner @ Betaworks; prior TechCrunch Deputy Editor), accessed May 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanrcrook/↩↩

  4. “Betaworks’ third fund closes at $66M to invest in early-stage AI startups,” TechCrunch, July 22, 2025, accessed May 2026. https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/22/betaworks-third-fund-closes-at-66m-to-invest-in-early-stage-ai-startups/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  5. Jordan Crook, “Announcing Betaworks Fund 3.0,” betaworks.com, accessed May 2026. https://www.betaworks.com/writing/announcing-betaworks-fund-3-↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  6. “Inside Betaworks: Navigating the Future of AI with Partner Jordan Crook,” Lynx Collective (Substack) interview, accessed May 2026. https://lynxcollective.substack.com/p/inside-betaworks-navigating-the-future↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  7. “Inside: Betaworks with Jordan Crook,” Betaworks event page, accessed May 2026. https://www.betaworks.com/event/inside-betaworks-with-jordan-crook↩↩

  8. Jordan Crook — Medium author archive, accessed May 2026. https://medium.com/@jordanrcrook↩

  9. John Borthwick on Betaworks’ contrarian AI posture (Hidden Forces podcast / press summary), accessed May 2026. https://hiddenforces.io/podcasts/john-borthwick-beta-works-superintelligence/↩

  10. “Granola in a $4.25M pre-seed investment round from Lightspeed Ventures,” Nordic 9, accessed May 2026. https://nordic9.com/news/granola-in-a-425m-pre-seed-investment-round-from-lightspeed-ventures/↩↩

  11. “VCs love using the AI meeting notepad Granola, so they gave it $20M,” TechCrunch, October 23, 2024, accessed May 2026. https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/23/vcs-love-using-the-ai-meeting-notepad-granola-so-they-gave-it-20m/↩↩↩