Chris Bakke

Founder

Currently: Investing, writing, and enjoying downtime.

Previously: CEO of Laskie (acquired by X/Twitter in 2023), Co-founder of Interviewed (acquired by Indeed in 2017), COO of 42Floors (acquired by Knotel), managed business development for Zillow (NAS $ZG), RentJuice (acquired by Zillow in 2012).

Founder, CEO

Tech entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience. Key areas: HR tech, social media, online marketplaces, product development, AI assistants, and productivity apps.
Yura began his career as a designer in 2000, building user interfaces for web and standalone digital products—before the term UX/UI even existed. From 2005 to 2010, he collaborated with an advisory group to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. On February 24, 2010, he was awarded the Ukrainian national “Order of Merit, Class III.” In 2009, he founded Chumak Way—a startup-focused business development consultancy that later pivoted to a business event management service.
In 2012, Yura co-founded Hubbub.fm, a “Twitter for voice” platform that successfully raised an angel round, grew to over 50,000 daily active users, and was recognized by multiple media outlets as one of the top European startups of the year.
In March 2014, Yura co-founded YouTeam, a marketplace for hiring software developers that pioneered the “fracking for talent” model. In January 2018, YouTeam was backed by Y Combinator. In 2025, it was acquired by TopTal.
That same year, Yura co-founded Alphie—an AI personal assistant.
He lives in the Bay Area with his wife, Maria, and their two children. He plays chess and writes literary fiction and sci-fi. His short stories have been published in Eclectica Magazine, Twelve Winters Journal, and Black Sheep Magazine.

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The Battle

Chris Bakke

Yura Riphyak

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