Team

John Borthwick has been a leader in the New York startup technology business for over two decades. He is the founder and CEO of betaworks, a New York-based startup platform that builds, accelerates, and invests in early-stage consumer technology companies.

Companies built by betaworks include Giphy, Dots, bitly, Tweetdeck, and Chartbeat. Giphy was acquired by META, Dots by TakeTwo, bitly by private equity, and Tweetdeck by Twitter. 

Investments and accelerated companies at betaworks include: Twitter, Tumblr, Kickstarter, Medium, Anchor, Gimlet and recently Hugging Face, The Browser Company and Granola.

Prior to starting betaworks, John held the CTO job at Time Warner, as SVP of Technology; before that he was CEO of Fotolog, one of the first social photo-sharing sites.  He serves on the boards of WNYC, New York Public Radio and Tech Policy Press. 

During his time at Betaworks, John has been a key player in a number of tech organizations including the Bloomberg Tech Council, the Partnership for New York, co-hosted New York Founders Forum, and served as a TechCrunch Startup Battlefield judge several times. He has also appeared on many media lists including Business Insider’s Top VCs in New York, Silicon Alley’s Seed 100, Tech Power 50, 100 Best Tech People on Twitter, and AlleyWatch’s Complete Guide to Venture Capital in NYC.

John holds an MBA from Wharton and a BA in Economics from Wesleyan University.

Jordan is a partner at Betaworks, leading deals in Granola, Hopscotch Labs, and Tato, among others. Before Betaworks, Jordan spent 12 years at TechCrunch. She made a name for herself by being the first to write about soon-to-be popular apps like Bumble and Yik Yak. She then became Deputy Editor, leading product development and business operations across events, podcasts, and premium subscriptions. Jordan graduated from NYU with a double major in English Literature and Philosophy.

Jon Chin oversees fund operations for Betaworks Ventures.

Analisa runs the Camp program, supports the investment team, and oversees operations of the physical Betaworks office and event space. She has been at Betaworks since 2015.

Lauren joined Betaworks in 2025, bringing over seven years of experience in the VC industry. She began her career at Madrona before helping build Breakwater Ventures from the ground up. In her role managing fund operations for Betaworks, she oversees the fund operations and data for multiple portfolio companies across Betaworks' three funds. She acts as a primary source of strategic coordination and support for all internal teams, cultivating vital relationships with external stakeholders across the ecosystem.