Ryan Merket
Founder / AI Wrangler at PattiAI; Founder & Angel Investor at Comal Ventures
Building PattiAI and exploring the collapsing minimum viable size of software businesses through AI-driven automation.
Intro
I'm Ryan Merket, currently the Founder and AI Wrangler at PattiAI and an Angel Investor through Comal Ventures. My career has been a journey of building and shipping—from co-founding startups like Ping.fm and Appstores.com (both acquired) to leading product teams at Reddit and serving as CTO for Microsoft for Startups. I’ve spent years at the intersection of product, engineering, and growth, including managing platform integrations for Facebook and scaling TikTok presence to 100M views. Right now, I’m obsessed with the 'solobuilder' movement and how AI agents are collapsing the traditional size of software companies. I’m passionate about heart-centered leadership and removing the friction between startups and big tech. Whether I'm hardening open-source tools or mentoring the next wave of founders, I’m here to help builders find their unfair advantages and ship hard.
Networking
What I can offer
- ›Deep expertise in scaling, product strategy, and fundraising.
- ›Mentorship for early-stage founders.
- ›Insights into AI engineering and agentic workflows.
What I'm looking for
- ›High-potential AI startups to empower
- ›Developers to help harden open-source releases like Neotoma
- ›expanding my professional network
- ›exploring mutual opportunities in AI and PropTech
Best fit for
Focus
Current interests
Core competencies
Background
Career
From UI/UX design and front-end engineering to co-founding and selling two startups (Ping.fm and Appstores.com). Held leadership roles at Facebook, Reddit, and AWS before serving as CTO of Microsoft for Startups and eventually returning to solo building with PattiAI.
Education
Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Oklahoma Wesleyan University; attended St. Philip's College (2001–2003).
Achievements
- ›Co-founded and sold Appstores.com (acquired by InMobi) and Ping.fm (acquired by Seesmic).
- ›Grew Goodfair’s TikTok presence to 100M views and 400k followers.
- ›Managed Facebook Platform integrations for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and The White House.
- ›Early mentor to Lyft (Zimride), TaskRabbit, and Life360 via fbFund.
Opinions
- One person or a small, sharp team can now do the work that previously required an entire organization.
- Startups can forgive 'rough edges' in products but cannot forgive 'organizational confusion' from partners.
- Essential career tools like resume builders should be accessible without predatory subscription models.
Personality
Communication style
Highly engaging, witty, and builder-centric with a mix of professional insight and self-deprecating humor.
Formality — 4/10
Vocabulary