Dayton Thorpe

Yo, so let me tell you about Dayton Thorpe – this guy’s the real deal. He’s like that nerdy genius who jumped into startups, crushed it, and then turned around and built something totally advanced.

Started out with a serious academic background – Ph.D. in Physics from UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s in Math and Physics from USC. Basically, the dude’s been deep in the science and data game forever. But what’s wild is, instead of just staying in academia or going the usual tech route, he jumped straight into the startup world.

His first big gig was at Kabbage, then Valor Equity Partners, where he cut his teeth as a data scientist. That’s where he really learned how to crunch numbers, build models, and understand complex data sets. But here’s where it gets interesting – he met his co-founder, Andrew Duberstein, while working at Instacart. And that’s a key moment. Those two clicked over data science and started dreaming bigger.

At Instacart, Dayton was a Senior Data Scientist – a role that’s all about turning chaos into insights, making sense of huge data streams, and really understanding how to improve grocery delivery. He was there from 2020 to 2022, and during that time, he was crushing it. But more than just doing the day-to-day, he’s always been thinking about how to make data more accessible. That’s what led him to co-found Mercator.

Now, Mercator is his big move – he’s the CEO and co-founder. The platform’s sick. It’s an AI-powered tool that helps people write SQL faster and easier. No Cap, it’s like a supercharged assistant for data teams, making complex queries simple with natural language. They even built Census Explorer, which lets anyone analyze census data using plain English. That’s the kind of stuff that could totally democratize data analysis – no more bullshit about needing to be a SQL wizard.

And here’s the kicker – he’s not just building this for himself. Dayton’s been super active as an angel investor, especially through Hustle Fund’s Angel Squad since 2021. He’s into digital health, enterprise apps, fintech – basically investing in the next wave of startups that are gonna shake things up. That shows he’s got the hustle and the vision to see what’s next.

So, what does this say about him? Dayton’s been deep in the data trenches, but he’s also passionate about making tech accessible. He’s not just about building cool shit-he’s about changing how people work, analyze data, and use AI in startups. From hardcore academic to startup founder and angel investor, he’s all about pushing boundaries, solving real problems, and cutting through the bullshit.

Long story short – Dayton Thorpe is one of those guys who’s been quietly crushing it behind the scenes, then jumps into something big, and makes it look easy. He’s the real deal – a scientist turned startup founder with a vision to democratize data and enable the next gen of founders. That’s why he matters.