Brian Murray
Partner & COO
Craft Ventures
Brian Murray is Partner & COO at Craft Ventures, where he invests and oversees firm operations after earlier leadership roles at B2B SaaS startups including Yammer and Zenefits.
Bio
Professional summary
David Sacks is a founder, operator, and investor at Craft Ventures. His official Craft profile describes a career spanning PayPal, where he was an early product leader and later COO, and Yammer, the enterprise collaboration company he founded and led before its acquisition by Microsoft. Craft credits him with pioneering the bottom-up SaaS strategy that combines product-led adoption with enterprise sales. As an investor, Craft says he has backed more than 20 unicorns across software, marketplaces, fintech, and consumer technology. For founder outreach, the strongest fit is a product-led B2B software company with a clear demo, efficient go-to-market, and potential to become category-defining.
Investment focus
Stage, sector, and overall fit
Stage
seedSeries Agrowth
Sector
B2B SaaSenterprise softwarebottom-up SaaSproduct-led growthAI softwaremarketplaces
Thesis
B2B SaaS and bottom-up SaaSProduct-led growth companiesGenerative AI within B2B software
Notable companies
Selected portfolio companies the partner has backed
AffirmAirbnbClickUpEventbriteFacebookHouzzLyftOpendoorPalantirPostmatesRedditSlackSpaceXTwitterUberWishAddeparGustoIntercomVanta
How to approach
Framing and angles for outreach
Pitch framing
Open with a sharp product demo, bottom-up adoption metrics, and a clear argument for why the company can define a large B2B software category.
Personalization hooks
- 1Reference bottom-up SaaS or product-led growth if the company has organic user adoption.
- 2Lead with demo quality and product insight rather than a long market memo.
Recent signals
What the partner has said or done recently
Craft’s official profile says he likes to begin pitch meetings by seeing a product demo.
Craft’s official content around its fourth early-stage fund and second growth fund emphasizes B2B software in the era of generative AI.
Background
Career, education, and skills
Career history
- Craft VenturesCo-Founder & Partner2017 – Present
- YammerFounder & CEO2008 – 2012 (acq. by Microsoft for $1.2B)
- PayPal (formerly Confinity)First Product Leader, then COO1999 – 2002 (IPO on Nasdaq)
Education
- Stanford UniversityB.A.
Other partners at Craft Ventures
12 more profiles
Bryan Rosenblatt
Venture Partner
Craft Ventures
Craft Venture Partner and founder-focused generalist with Reddit, Twitter, and Riverside Ventures roots.
DS
David O. Sacks
Partner
Craft Ventures
Craft co-founder, former PayPal COO, Yammer founder, and B2B software investor.
JJ
Josiah Joner
Analyst
Craft Ventures
Craft investment analyst based in San Francisco.
Kevin Gabura
Principal
Craft Ventures
Craft Principal investing across cybersecurity, infrastructure, and application software.
Lainy Painter Singh
Partner
Craft Ventures
Lainy Painter Singh is a Partner on Craft Ventures' investment team. Her official profile says she focuses on platforms for complex vertical markets including real estate, healthcare, education, construction, and fintech.
Mark Woolway
President
Craft Ventures
Mark Woolway is President of Craft Ventures and a partner on the investment team. He leads Craft’s operations, finance, legal, fundraising, and LP relations, with prior executive experience at Zenefits, Intercom, Yammer, Clarium Capital, and PayPal.
Michael Robinson
Partner, Head of Investment Team
Craft Ventures
Michael Robinson is Partner and Head of the Investment Team at Craft Ventures, focused on horizontal and vertical B2B SaaS, infrastructure, cybersecurity, dev tools, and vertical SaaS.
Mike Marg
Partner
Craft Ventures
Mike Marg is a Partner at Craft Ventures based in San Francisco, focused on Generative AI, APIs, and Enterprise SaaS, with prior GTM leadership roles at Dropbox, Slack, and Clearbit.
Sean Whitney
Principal
Craft Ventures
Craft Principal investing in AI, creative tools, developer tools, APIs, and bottom-up SaaS.
Taylor Durand
Investor
Craft Ventures
Craft Investor focused on frontier tech, infrastructure, physical AI, vertical SaaS, and defense.
Zao Chen
Principal
Craft Ventures
Craft Principal investing in data infrastructure, AI infrastructure, and developer tools.