Thomas Layton is an angel investor and entrepreneur based in San Francisco who serves as Chairman of Upwork. See portfolio, sector focus and contact routes.
Thomas Layton is an angel investor and entrepreneur based in San Francisco who serves as Chairman of Upwork, a role he has held since 2011, and previously led OpenTable as CEO and Metaweb Technologies before its acquisition by Google. His investment thesis focuses on consumer internet, SaaS, and education technology, with investments spanning the United States and international markets like Morocco. Layton has made approximately 10 angel investments, typically participating at the seed stage, though his specific check size and lead/follow behavior are not publicly documented. Notable portfolio companies include Hostie, PipeDreams, Yassir, Novi Connect, NextLesson, and Hearsay Systems, reflecting his interest in startups that connect people, services, and information. His latest recorded investment was in Hostie as part of a Seed VC round in April 2025. While Layton has lectured at Stanford Graduate School of Business and co-founded the non-profit MapLight.org to expose connections between money and politics, there is no public record of distinctive investment viewpoints or published writing on his investing philosophy.
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