
Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski
Founder / CEO at Braintrust & Doctor on Demand
Braintrust is the first user-controlled talent network that connects organizations with highly skilled tech talent.
Adam has raised $6 million to date for his startup that has just emerged from stealth. His audience numbers more than 20,000 and he is happy to share your episode with his fans!
- Millionaire Maker
- Podcast Pro
- Entrepreneur
- 📍 San Francisco, CA
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Let's talk about
- Cryptocurrency
- Governance models
- The Future of Work
- Marketplace economics
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Adam Jackson is a software engineer turned serial tech entrepreneur and investor who started 4 VC-backed companies and an asset management company over the last 16 years. A common thread in Adam’s journey as an entrepreneur is his interest in creating open, equitable marketplaces that use customer-focused technology to create more valuable connections and boost collaboration between users, without the costs and friction of conventional channels.
Adam is co-founder and CEO of Braintrust, the first user-controlled talent network that provides enterprises with the highly skilled technical and design talent they need. Braintrust’s unique business model allows talent to retain 100% of their market-rate and enables organizations to spin up flexible teams and make their budgets go 2-3x further by cutting out the middlemen. Adam also currently serves as Managing Partner & CTO of Cambrian Asset Management, a blockchain asset management company.
Prior to Braintrust, Adam co-founded and served as CEO of Doctor on Demand, the popular video telemedicine provider with daytime talk show personality Dr. Phil, as well as his son Jay McGraw. Doctor On Demand invented the next generation of healthcare by enabling people to connect with board-certified physicians and psychologists via Video Visits on mobile devices. Doctor On Demand delivers services through employers, health systems, health plans, and directly to consumers and has raised $165M in VC.
Other startups that Adam founded include DriverSide and MarketSquare. DriverSide was founded in 2007 and acquired by Advance Auto Parts in September of 2011. MarketSquare - one of the first online local shopping destinations on the Internet - was Adam’s first venture-backed business, founded in 2004. MarketSquare was acquired by Intuit in September of 2006.
Adam is also an angel investor in 35+ companies/projects, including Long Term Stock Exchange (LTSE), TrustToken, Placer, Aktana, Bolt, Basis, Filecoin, Placer, Skale Labs, Protocol Labs, JCTurbo, Apero Health, Rapportive, MyTime, Automatic, Womply, Superhuman, and Zenefits.
Based in San Francisco, Adam is an early riser, waking at 4 a.m. to exercise, meditate, and drink a strong coffee. He’s also a devoted San Francisco 49ers fan.

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Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski
Founder / Chief Revenue Officer at Braintrust
- Millionaire Maker
- Podcast Pro
- Entrepreneur
- 📍 San Francisco, CA
Braintrust is the first user-controlled talent network that connects organizations with highly skilled tech talent.
Gabriel has raised $6 million to date for his startup that has just emerged from stealth. His audience numbers more than 40,000 and he is happy to share your episode with his fans!
read more
Let's talk about
- The Future of Work
- HR/ New Talent Models
- Entrepreneurship
- Leadership
- Culture
__
Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski is the Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Braintrust, the first user-controlled talent network that provides enterprises with the highly skilled technical and design talent they need. Braintrust’s unique business model allows talent to retain 100% of their market-rate and enables organizations to spin up flexible teams and make their budgets go 2-3x further by cutting out the middlemen.
Interestingly, Gabe was born and raised on a commune and through that experience, he developed a passion for unconventional, collaborative, equitable ways of working. Gabe was inspired to start Braintrust because he wanted to create a more level playing field in the market for freelance talent, to help freelancers earn fair fees for their work while also helping employers quickly assemble teams of qualified tech talent without the added costs and inefficiencies of middlemen.
As a serial entrepreneur from the age of 18, Gabe Co-Founded the leading home improvement marketplace Modernize.com in 2005 where he bootstrapped sales from zero to over $80 million.
He also founded Upshift Capital in which he advised, consulted and invested in 30+ Silicon Valley startups over the past 10 years, including Thumbtack, Uber, Surfair, and Lendinghome. The first five companies he advised raised over $300M in follow on funding.
Originally from the Bay area of California, Gabe lives in Napa, CA. In his spare time, Gabe enjoys cooking, photography, and most recently, heli-snowboarding. Gabe also serves on the boards of Modernize, YPO and Metta Institute.
BOOK NOW FOR your podcast
Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski
- 📍 San Francisco, CA
- Millionaire Maker
- Entrepreneur
Braintrust is the first user-controlled talent network that connects organizations with highly skilled tech talent.
Gabriel has raised $6 million to date for his startup that has just emerged from stealth. His audience numbers more than 40,000 and he is happy to share your episode with his fans!
read more
Let's talk about
- The Future of Work
- HR/ New Talent Models
- Entrepreneurship
- Leadership
- Culture
__
Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski is the Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Braintrust, the first user-controlled talent network that provides enterprises with the highly skilled technical and design talent they need. Braintrust’s unique business model allows talent to retain 100% of their market-rate and enables organizations to spin up flexible teams and make their budgets go 2-3x further by cutting out the middlemen.
Interestingly, Gabe was born and raised on a commune and through that experience, he developed a passion for unconventional, collaborative, equitable ways of working. Gabe was inspired to start Braintrust because he wanted to create a more level playing field in the market for freelance talent, to help freelancers earn fair fees for their work while also helping employers quickly assemble teams of qualified tech talent without the added costs and inefficiencies of middlemen.
As a serial entrepreneur from the age of 18, Gabe Co-Founded the leading home improvement marketplace Modernize.com in 2005 where he bootstrapped sales from zero to over $80 million.
He also founded Upshift Capital in which he advised, consulted and invested in 30+ Silicon Valley startups over the past 10 years, including Thumbtack, Uber, Surfair, and Lendinghome. The first five companies he advised raised over $300M in follow on funding.
Originally from the Bay area of California, Gabe lives in Napa, CA. In his spare time, Gabe enjoys cooking, photography, and most recently, heli-snowboarding. Gabe also serves on the boards of Modernize, YPO and Metta Institute.
As seen on
Braintrust connects freelance software coders and other technical workers with companies that want to hire them for projects. Job marketplaces are common, but what’s different at Braintrust is that freelancers and other contributors collect ownership interests in the marketplace for doing things like referring potential freelancers and clients or helping to vet their peers. read more >>>
Timeline
May 2018 – Present
Co-Founder & CRO – Braintrust Network
Braintrust is one of the first blockchain powered freelancer marketplace completely controlled by its users.
Aug 2017 – Present
General Partner – Upshift Capital
Cambrian Asset Management is a blockchain-focused digital asset management company. Upshift Capital is a Seed Fund focused on Blockchain, Marketplaces and SaaS businesses.
May 2015 – Present
Advisor – LendingHome
Worked with the executive team to help accelerate growth, systematize their sales function and use data to improve unit economics.
Ask me
What will the future of work look like? |
How can companies succeed in this new, distributed world? |
How can companies find, attract, and retain top talent? |
How are companies accelerating innovation with distributed teams? |
Why the future of work is user owned. |
Podcast agent: Zaq Tull
Zaq@kitcaster.com • (303) 514-8401