Alison Johnston

Here’s the tea on Alison Johnston, this total badass in the startup world. She’s the CEO and co-founder of Ever Loved, a company that’s all about shaking up funeral and end-of-life planning with tech. Crazy thing is, she started this whole process after a personal experience made her realize how crappy and confusing those processes are. So she jumped into building something that actually helps people during their hardest moments, no BS.

But that’s just the latest chapter. Alison’s been around the block a few times. Before Ever Loved, she co-founded InstaEDU, a super popular online tutoring marketplace. That thing got snapped up by Chegg, which was a major win. She also co-founded Cardinal Scholars, another in-person tutoring startup, which was later acquired by Course Hero. Basically, she’s been crushing it in the edtech space, building stuff that people actually need and then selling it for big wins.

Her background? It’s stacked. She’s worked at Aardvark, you know, that Q&A app Google bought? Yeah, she’s got that Google stamp too. Plus, she’s been involved with Nextdoor, Box, Inc., and Quango. The girl’s got serious tech creds. And she’s more than just a startup person, she’s legit smart, holding a BA from Stanford and making Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in Education back in 2014.

What’s wild is her motivation. You can tell she’s driven by real empathy, by wanting to solve problems that matter. Her personal story with funeral planning? That’s what lit the fire. She saw firsthand how broken the system is, and instead of just complaining, she jumped in and built Ever Loved. It’s not just about making money, it’s about making a difference when people need it most.

And check this out, Ever Loved went through Y Combinator, the gold standard for startups, and secured seed funding from Social Capital. So she’s not just some small fry, she’s recognized by the big leagues for her vision and hustle.

Bottom line? Alison Johnston is the real deal. She’s the kind of founder who’s not afraid to jump into tough problems, learn from her past wins and failures, and keep pushing. She’s proof that with the right mix of empathy, grit, and smarts, you can build companies that truly change lives. No Cap.