TOP NETWORKS
Alumni who went on to found BuildList companies
NETWORK CONCENTRATION
Share of each sector's links supplied by its top three networks
AI Research116 founder links
Concentrated60%
Top 3: Google · OpenAI · Meta32 sources
Construction & Housing13 founder links
Moderate54%
Top 3: SpaceX · Waymo · Atomic Industries9 sources
Compute & Semiconductors63 founder links
Moderate44%
Top 3: Google · AMD · SpaceX26 sources
Public Services17 founder links
Moderate41%
Top 3: Palantir · Amazon · Uber13 sources
AI App120 founder links
Broad39%
Top 3: Google · Meta · Palantir41 sources
Bio & Health41 founder links
Broad39%
Top 3: Google · Meta · Neuralink21 sources
Energy & Climate164 founder links
Broad37%
Top 3: SpaceX · Tesla · Google64 sources
Agriculture19 founder links
Broad37%
Top 3: Google · Deloitte · Anduril Industries15 sources
Fintech29 founder links
Broad34%
Top 3: Goldman Sachs · Meta · Revolut18 sources
Aerospace177 founder links
Broad34%
Top 3: SpaceX · Lockheed Martin · Blue Origin59 sources
Transportation47 founder links
Broad34%
Top 3: SpaceX · Boeing · Google24 sources
Manufacturing84 founder links
Broad31%
Top 3: SpaceX · Tesla · Amazon38 sources
Defense148 founder links
Broad24%
Top 3: Palantir · SpaceX · Anduril Industries63 sources
Robotics83 founder links
Broad23%
Top 3: Google · Meta · Tesla47 sources
Sectors with fewer than 10 observed links are excluded.
NETWORKS TO METROS
Where alumni-founded companies are headquartered.
| Alumni network | All metros | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 86 | 7 | 10 | 3 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 127 | |
| SpaceX | 20 | 66 | 1 | 9 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 110 |
| Meta | 31 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | – | 1 | 1 | 52 |
| Tesla | 27 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | – | 49 |
| Palantir | 8 | 9 | 13 | 3 | – | 1 | – | 5 | 43 |
| Apple | 17 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 28 |
| Amazon | 12 | 2 | 3 | – | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | 27 |
| Anduril Industries | 6 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – | 1 | 4 | 27 |
| OpenAI | 25 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 27 |
| Microsoft | 17 | 4 | 2 | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 26 |
Cells show the top eight metros · all-metros totals include every location · 466 links shown
Counts represent observed, directed founder links from a former employer to a founded company. A founder can contribute to more than one network when their work history spans multiple qualifying organizations.