David Lieb

Lieb belongs to PrincetonPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private university and Ivy League member in Princeton, New Jersey. Chartered on October 22, 1746 as the College of New Jersey, it moved to Princeton in 1756 and adopted its present name in 1896. Undergraduate education leads to A.B. and B.S.E. degrees and emphasizes small-group discussion, independent research and residential college life. Graduate education spans the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering. As of October 2026, Christopher L. Eisgruber was president. Its 2026–27 operating budget was $3.407 billion, including $342 million for undergraduate aid.Open the full entry’s class of 2003.⁠[2]

Raised in Texas, he researched in Sebastian Thrun’s AI lab at Stanford, left the PhD program with a master’s degree, and worked at Texas Instruments before business school.⁠[3]

Lieb entered business school in fall 2008, launched Bump with Andy Huibers and Jake Mintz on March 27, 2009, and attended YC that summer.⁠[4]

Bump exchanged contacts when phones were bumped; its server matched motion, time and location to connect devices.⁠[2]

On April 24, Apple announced one billion App Store downloads, with Bump accounting for the billionth download.⁠[5]

Bump’s downloads failed to produce steady revenue, prompting a shift to photo sharing through Flock, which also struggled with adoption. Google acquired the company in September 2013; Lieb later said retiring the old apps to focus on photos had been planned.⁠[6]

On May 28, 2015, Google launched standalone Google Photos on Android, iOS and the web, with automatic backup, people-and-object search, automatic creations and link sharing.⁠[7]

On September 19, Lieb described updates as Google Photos’ product director: recipient-based sharing delivered through notifications, SMS or email, and automatic movies organized around themes such as children growing up.⁠[8]

On June 25, Lieb announced a redesign with Photos, Search and Library tabs, an interactive map and expanded Memories. The announcement reported more than one billion monthly users at that time.⁠[9]

In his public departure post, Lieb announced leaving Google to become a visiting group partner at YC. He described a year of leukemia treatment and said recovery prompted him to spend more time with early-stage founders.⁠[10][3]

On April 18, YC appointed Lieb a full-time Group Partner after three batches as a visiting partner. The announcement highlighted his emphasis on real customers and repeat use rather than app rankings.⁠[11]

Y Combinator: Official website: https://www.ycombinator.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[1]

Google Photos: Official website: https://photos.google.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[7]

X: Public account: https://twitter.com/dflieb (opens in a new window)⁠[4]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidlieb (opens in a new window)⁠[10]