Rosa Lin

Rosa Lin

Y Combinator Logo Batch: W18

Achievements

  • Founded Iambiq Technologies and served as CEO (2015-2017)
  • Participated in Y Combinator with Tolstoy (S18)
  • Founded Tolstoy, a machine learning company for document data extraction (2018-2022)
  • Built AI tools to simplify data extraction from old documents and archives
  • Brings a unique blend of science, journalism, and tech expertise to solve real-world problems
  • Currently teaching at UC Berkeley, mentoring the next-gen entrepreneurs

Real talk about Rosa Lin

Bro, let me put you onto Rosa Lin, this is the real deal tech entrepreneur who’s been crushing it in the world of machine learning and data extraction. She’s a total legend in the startup scene, and her process is super inspiring.

So, Rosa’s background is kinda wild, she started out with a solid foundation in science and journalism. She studied at North Texas and Texas A&M, where she got her honors in biology, then went on to Northwestern for a master’s in science and health reporting. Basically, she’s got a mix of tech, science, and storytelling in her bones. Before jumping into startups, she was out there as a reporter and editor, digging into science and energy stories. That’s where her passion for understanding complex stuff and communicating it clearly started.

But here’s where it gets interesting. Around 2015, Rosa jumped into the tech scene and co-founded Iambiq Technologies, where she played the CEO role. That’s where she really started getting her hands dirty with machine learning, working on tools to extract data from documents, basically, she saw how messy paper and digital docs are and decided to build tech to clean that up. She ran Iambiq till 2017, building her chops in the AI game.

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Then, in 2018, she took her learnings and jumped into Y Combinator with her future trend, Tolstoy, yeah, named after the guy who wrote the great novels, but here, it’s all about extracting data from old docs using machine learning. Think about it: Rosa saw the bullshit of manual data entry and knew there had to be a smarter way. So she built a company based in San Francisco, focused on making text extraction from archives, contracts, old papers, all that dusty stuff, way easier. She ran Tolstoy till 2022, and honestly, she’s been crushing it, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with AI in document processing.

What does this say about her? She’s all about solving real-world problems that most people just accept as unavoidable. Her whole process screams motivation: she’s driven by a desire to make tech that actually makes a difference, cutting out the bullshit, saving time, and unlocking data buried in old, messy documents. She’s not just playing startup; she’s out here changing how we handle information, making it accessible and useful.

And now? She’s also teaching at Berkeley, sharing her knowledge, mentoring the next wave of entrepreneurs. That’s the part I love, she’s not just building cool tech, she’s also giving back, spreading the startup gospel, inspiring others to jump into the chaos and build something meaningful.

Bottom line: Rosa Lin is a powerhouse who’s turned her science, journalism, and tech skills into a movement to clean up data chaos with AI. She’s proof that if you see a problem, no matter how boring or dusty it seems, and you go all-in to fix it, you can totally change the game. That’s why she’s so important, she’s the real deal, pushing the limits of what’s possible with machine learning and making sure the world’s old docs don’t hold us back anymore.

Founder ID: 106327

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