Welcoming Arjun Narayan as Amplify's newest Venture Partner

In November 2018, my friend Spencer Kimball (who founded and runs Cockroach Labs) introduced me to a talented engineer who was departing his team to embark on a new venture. That autumn and into 2019, my team at Amplify had the privilege of spending many many hours getting to know Arjun Narayan and his co-founder, Frank McSherry. At that time, their company was still called Timely Data, but it would later evolve into Materialize—a startup that would end up wowing the database systems community with its extraordinary engineering talent and novel technology.

For reasons best recounted over several drinks, Amplify ultimately did not invest in Materialize, but from that process emerged a budding relationship with Arjun. We made a point of staying in close contact, talking about anything from leading Materialize, to the manyfold challenges of company building, the latest developments in systems research, the subtle ‘art’ of raising kids, and, of course, the logistics of interplanetary travel.

What always stood out about Arjun, particularly as a lifelong engineer with a PhD, was his ability to transcend the technical details and focus on the bigger picture—connecting code to product, and product to a story. This rare perspective made him an invaluable resource for founders we introduced to him. Over the years, Arjun joined us on the cap tables of companies like Hightouch and Modal, and the feedback from founders who worked with him was always glowing.

Late last summer, Arjun reached out for a catch-up. Having recently transitioned from his role as CEO of Materialize, I assumed he was gearing up for his next startup. I had prepared a list of ideas to discuss, but he surprised me by pivoting the conversation to investing—he was interested in venture capital, of all things. Within minutes, we were talking about working together. 

What struck the entire team at Amplify was how closely Arjun’s philosophy of life aligns with our approach to investing. As a PhD student at UPenn, he glimpsed the future while reading the Google Spanner paper and promptly joined Cockroach Labs, convinced of their mission. In a move that turned more than a few heads, he requested to be compensated entirely in equity (but was sadly denied)—an option he could take, thanks to the support of his then-girlfriend (now wife) and her “cushy” job at Google.

While a PhD student, Arjun had discovered Frank McSherry’s research on Timely Dataflow and after reconnecting with Frank while at Cockroach Labs, once again looked into the future. He spent years persuading Frank to cofound what would become Materialize—a venture to which they dedicated the better part of the last decade.

It is this relentless curiosity, obsession with what’s next, and willingness to stake everything on his convictions that makes us confident Arjun is going to be a natural fit for venture, and more specifically Amplify.

At Amplify, our mission is to be the first and best partner to today’s most ambitious technical founders, helping them bring their ideas to life. We’re the first investor for the engineers, the researchers, the practitioners, and the detail-obsessed. And so it is with great excitement that we welcome someone who embodies that ethos—not only as a founder but now as a member of our investment team. Who better to find and support the next generation of incredible technical founders than an incredible technical founder himself.

Welcome, Arjun.