Eric Frenkiel

So check this out about Eric Frenkiel, this guy’s the real deal in the startup world. He’s a YC W11 guy, so he’s been around the block a bit, but what really stands out is his hustle and how he’s always been chasing big data and enterprise solutions.

So, Eric’s process kicks off at Facebook and Marin Software, right? He’s deep in the trenches dealing with massive data sets, seeing firsthand how messy and complex it gets at scale. That’s where his mind starts thinking, “Yo, there’s gotta be a better way to handle all this info in real-time.”

Then, he jumps into YC in 2011, and that’s where he and his co-founder Nikita Shamgunov start building MemSQL, now called SingleStore. They built this thing in stealth mode, which is kinda their signature move, keep it low-key, then crush it when they’re ready. These guys had seen what’s possible at Facebook, and they knew enterprise software needed a serious upgrade. MemSQL was one of YC’s first enterprise-focused startups, and it was all about real-time analytics, which was kinda a big change back then.

What’s cool is, Eric’s process shows he’s super motivated by real-world problems, he’s not just doing startups for the hell of it. He saw all the data problems at Facebook and Marin, and that pushed him to build something that actually solves those problems at scale. The fact that he and Nikita jumped out of Facebook to start MemSQL, that’s a bold move, shows he’s not afraid to risk it all for something he believes in.

After leading SingleStore and crushing it, Eric took a pause, a whole sabbatical, which says a lot about him. The dude’s not just about the grind; he’s about learning, recharging, then jumping into the next thing. And now he’s all in on Pomelo, a fintech startup focused on making money transfers easier and more original. It’s like he’s always chasing the future trend that can make a real impact.

Bottom line: Eric’s story is about being deeply technical but also super entrepreneur at heart. He’s built enterprise software that’s changing the game, always driven by the problems he’s seen in the wild, not some bullshit theory. He’s the kind of founder who’s not just in it for the fame, he genuinely wants to fix big problems, and that’s what makes him so important. No cap.