Wade Foster is an American entrepreneur who co-founded Zapier and serves as its chief executive. Zapier is a no-code automation platform that connects thousands of web applications, letting people build workflows that move information between their tools without writing code. Foster has led the company since its founding and is often cited for two things: building a large, profitable business while raising very little venture capital, and running Zapier as a fully remote organization.
Foster helped start Zapier in 2011 with co-founders Bryan Helmig and Mike Knoop, and the company went through the Y Combinator accelerator in 2012. As chief executive he sets the company's strategy, speaks publicly about remote work and capital-efficient growth, and writes about company building. More background on the company is available on its site at zapier.com, and Foster maintains his own writing at wadefoster.net.
Who Wade Foster is
Wade Foster grew up in the American Midwest and studied at the University of Missouri in Columbia, where he earned an engineering degree and later a business degree. Before founding Zapier he worked in marketing and product roles at companies in the Columbia area, experience that exposed him to the everyday problem of getting separate software tools to share data with one another.
That problem became the basis for Zapier. Working alongside Bryan Helmig and Mike Knoop, Foster set out to build a service that could connect web apps automatically, so that non-technical users could link the tools they already used. He has remained the company's chief executive throughout its growth, and he is widely recognized in the startup community for his views on fundraising, remote work, and building durable companies.
Background and education
Foster attended the University of Missouri, completing an undergraduate degree in engineering and a graduate business degree at the same university. His early career included roles in email marketing and customer development at Columbia-area employers, work that put him close to the practical challenges of marketing and operations teams who juggle many software tools.
It was during this period, around a local startup weekend in Columbia, that the idea for Zapier took shape. Foster and his co-founders built an early version of the product as a side project before committing to it full time, applying to Y Combinator, and turning the prototype into a company. That path, from a Missouri side project to a widely used platform, is frequently referenced as an example of building a startup outside the traditional coastal technology hubs.
Founding Zapier and remote-first leadership
Foster co-founded Zapier in 2011 and has served as chief executive since the company's earliest days. Under his leadership Zapier grew its catalog of supported applications into the thousands and built a large base of users who rely on it to automate routine tasks. Rather than raising repeated venture rounds, the company took a small amount of outside funding and focused on reaching profitability, and in a 2021 secondary share sale it was valued at about 5 billion dollars.
He is also closely associated with the remote-work model. Zapier operated as a fully distributed company for most of its history, with no central office and employees spread across many countries, and Foster has written and spoken extensively about how to hire, manage, and build culture in that setting. When many companies moved to remote work, his earlier experience running a distributed team made him a frequently cited voice on the subject.
Focus and public work
As chief executive, Foster concentrates on Zapier's product direction, its expansion into new automation and artificial intelligence features, and the operating practices that let a remote company scale. He regularly shares lessons from building the business, including his contrarian views on fundraising and his belief that companies can grow large without heavy venture capital.
Foster's commentary reaches founders and operators through podcasts, interviews, and his own writing. For readers comparing the tools that teams use to automate and add intelligence to their work, Zapier appears alongside other platforms in our guide to the best AI tools for business.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Wade Foster?
Wade Foster is an American entrepreneur who co-founded Zapier and serves as its chief executive. Zapier is a no-code automation platform that connects thousands of web apps.
When did Wade Foster found Zapier?
Foster co-founded Zapier in 2011, alongside Bryan Helmig and Mike Knoop. The company went through the Y Combinator accelerator in 2012.
Where did Wade Foster go to school?
He studied at the University of Missouri in Columbia, earning an engineering degree and later a business degree.
What is Wade Foster known for?
He is known for building Zapier into a large, profitable business while raising very little venture capital, and for running the company as a fully remote, distributed organization.
How valuable is Zapier?
In a 2021 secondary share sale, Zapier was valued at about 5 billion dollars. Foster has been chief executive throughout the company's growth.