David Barrett (entrepreneur)
David Barrett | |
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan (BA) |
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David Barrett is an American entrepreneur and software engineer. He is founder and CEO of Expensify, a software company that has developed an expense management system for personal and business use.[1]
Early life and career[edit]
Barrett grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, where he began programming at the age of 6. He earned a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from the University of Michigan, where he worked on campus in a virtual reality laboratory. After graduating from college, he moved to Texas, where he helped develop 3D graphics engines for the video game industry.[2][3]
He later joined Red Swoosh, a peer-to-peer file sharing company co-founded by Travis Kalanick. Barrett left Red Swoosh in 2008, a year after it was purchased by Akamai Technologies.[4]
Expensify[edit]
Barrett remained in San Francisco after leaving Red Swoosh. Barrett said Expensify's roots can be traced to a project he started to assist homeless individuals in his neighborhood without simply handing over cash. He began developing a debit card that donors could give to homeless individuals for use at pre-approved vendors.[3]
Banks were not interested in the idea. Barrett refined that concept, though, into a prepaid debit card that businesses could give to employees to cover expenses.[3] Staked with $15 million from the sale of Red Swoosh, Barrett launched Expensify in San Francisco in 2008.[4] He moved the company's main offices to Portland, Oregon, in 2017, citing quality-of-life reasons.[2] Barrett, who has kept a majority stake in Expensify, has been dismissive of the venture capital community in the past. “I think the entire playbook for being a private company right now is how you pump and dump a startup to some bigger sucker," he said.[1]
Political activism[edit]
In October 2020, Barrett sent an email to 10 million Expensify customers urging them to vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming U.S. presidential election against Donald Trump. “If you are a U.S. citizen, anything less than a vote for Biden is a vote against democracy,” Barrett wrote.[5]
Some customers objected to a vendor using their email addresses to promote a political message, and Barrett said he received death threats after sending it.[6][7]
“I think there’s no such thing in a democracy as being apolitical. Every action you take is your position. I think that a large number of these tech companies, by saying, ‘Oh, we’re apolitical,’ that's a very convenient way of saying, ‘No, I’m voting for the status quo. I support the current administration, and I’m not going to take actions to do anything about it because it’s actually good for business.’ I think it's actually pretty cynical.” [8]
In January 2021, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Barrett sent another letter to customers. In it, he pledged that the company would donate $3 million to fight “systemic injustices” and narrow the gender pay gap. In the letter, Barrett said for every dollar the company pays white male employees, it will donate an additional 25 cents to its charity, Expensify.org.[9][10]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Russell, Melia (2021-01-31). "VCs are out to 'pump and dump' startups, Expensify CEO says. So he's buying out his investors as he readies to go public". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
- ^ a b Spencer, Malia (2020-12-15). "At Expensify, a strong stance doesn't stem the growth". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
- ^ a b c Smith, Heather (2018-03-20). "Ep. 53 David Barrett – Expensify". Cloud Stories. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ^ a b Latka, Nathan. "655: Expensify 450k Customers Paying $9/mo for Expense Reports that Don't Suck with CEO David Barrett". The Top. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ^ Picchi, Aimee (2020-10-24). "CEO emails 10 million customers to tell them to vote for Biden". CBS News. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ^ Arrowsmith, Ranica (2020-11-04). "Accountants respond to the Expensify letter". Accounting Today. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ^ Griffith, Erin; Popper, Nathaniel (2020-10-28). "To do politics or not do politics? Tech start-ups are divided". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ^ Pimentel, Benjamin (2021-01-19). "Expensify CEO David Barrett: 'Most CEOs are not bad people, they're just cowards'". Protocol. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
- ^ Sonnemaker, Tyler (2021-01-20). "Read the email Expensify's CEO sent to customers on MLK Day outlining the company's plan to fight injustices with a 'highly experimental' crowdsourced campaign". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
- ^ DeFeliciantonio, Chase (2021-01-18). "Expensify to donate about $3 million as statement against gender pay gap". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-02-05.