Colin Carrier
Founder of PiñataFarms
Los Angeles, California
Overview
Work Experience
Founder, Co-CEO
2019 - Current
Piñata Farms is an AI company building the next era of media & entertainment, bringing people together through content creation. We transform AI research into live products in a matter of weeks. Our products are loved by millions of people all over the world!
Piñata Farms makes video and image memes in seconds.
Investor & Advisor
2013
AngelList Profile: https://angel.co/colincarrier. 50+ Investments Notable exits: seed investor in Cruise Automotive (acquired by GM - $1B+) Super Angel @Index Ventures Venture Partner @Signia Ventures Venture Advisor @PathBreaker Ventures
Founder, CEO
2019 - 2024
*Acquired by Scopely in Dec 2024* Oooh is Official Group Chats. The AI‑powered alternative to broadcast‑style social media—a chat-based community platform where public and private groups, interactive games, and remixable content merge to drive real connection, again. Oooh became a Top 100 app in AppStore in 2024. Oooh's technology, delivered a full stack of generative AI and analytical tools: automatic content creation and recommendations, real‑time chat summaries, AI-powered news digests, and the “AI Community Member” that could hold conversations on its own. Creators and group leads tapped the Oooh Engine™—a Unity‑based dev kit and SDK—to build and personalize 100+ proprietary activities, while our AI Game‑Creation Engine let them spin up brand‑new games with simple prompts. Every interaction (chats, bios, friend graphs, monetization events) fed a growing data engine that personalized discovery, ranked leaderboards, and kept communities safe through AI content moderation. Together, these products turned Oooh into an end‑to‑end platform for launching, enriching, and monetizing vibrant social worlds. Oooh raised $23M through Series A, and was backed by Khosla Ventures, Makers Fund, Unity, and more than 80 others including founders and execs from Twitch, TikTok, Snap, EA, Blizzard, Disney, professional athletes and musicians.
Chief Strategy Officer
2013 - 2018
*Acquired by Amazon in 2014 - $1BN+* I most recently was leading the incubation of a portfolio of new stealth projects at Twitch, including Twitch's first in-house game 'Twitch Sings'. From idea conception all the way through prototype, development, launch and live operation, I had full P&L, design/product/engineering, marketing and supporting business functions ownership. Additionally, I ran Corporate Development, working in tandem with Amazon’s Corporate Development team, where I led M&A, including the acquisition and integration of Curse Media (voice/chat communications, media network and YouTube MCN) and Clipmine (machine learning / computer vision). My group was responsible for investment and warrant negotiations as well as strategic advisory on our more complex Esports and content partnerships deals. I oversaw Curse Media, a 70+ business that owns and operates the largest network of community sites, wikis, and digital tools for the gamer community. Part of my role involved working with leaders of Amazon Games Studios, Amazon Music, Amazon Video and Alexa to create and evaluate opportunities to collaborate on cross-Twitch/Amazon initiatives. I was one of Amazon Games Studio Heads who are building games for PC and Mobile platforms. I was also directly responsible for pioneering a variety of new endeavors at Twitch, including TwitchCon (now a 50,000+ person conference in its 5th year) and the introduction of new content verticals including Music, Creativity and Poker. As the Chief Strategy Officer and member of the senior executive team for 5 years, I have helped shape the growth of Twitch to over 100MM users, from 40 employees to almost to 50x that and from a Series B startup company to more than a billion dollar exit to Amazon. Twitch made live video, gaming and Esports mainstream and still has much left to do to make its mark on the world!
Twitch is a social video platform where gamers can broadcast, watch, and talk about video games.
Raised $35,000,000.00 from Thrive Capital, Nelstone Ventures, Take-Two Interactive Software, WestSummit Capital, Alsop Louie Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners.
GM
2013 - 2014
Justin.tv spunout it's gaming vertical, Twitch, into its own property and as part of my role with Twitch I ran Justin.tv. While still the same company, I was directly responsible for Justin.tv's independent P&L, product and engineering, sales and marketing and all other aspects of this 'business within a business'. Prior to the Amazon acquisition of Twitch, we decided focusing all efforts on Twitch was of much higher value and sunset the Justin.tv business.
Justin.TV is an online community for users to freely create, share, and broadcast live videos.
Raised $16,387,887.00 from Alsop Louie Partners and Felicis.
Co-founder
2012 - 2013
*Acquired by Pluto.tv in 2017* Helped fellow co-founders establish the business, vision and strategy. I created the operating model, began the early product build out, and helped secure seed funding. I had an opportunity to join Twitch in early 2013, and couldn't pass it up. I remained close to my fellow co-founders and advised until acquisition in 2017.
VP, Monetization
2009 - 2013
*Acquired by IBM in 2016 - $130MM* Oversaw global adverting sales & operations, subscriptions, e-commerce, distribution and all emerging business lines with oversight of teams in U.S. and Europe. Reaching over 80MM uniques globally, we secured a total of $85MM through a series B and subsequent fundraising rounds including JVs in Japan with Softbank and Korea with Korea Telecom. I was also responsible for bringing to market innovative new revenue-producing products and services. During my time, I was involved in over 500+ premium and branded video productions and led partnerships in film, TV, music, sports, news, gaming and countless celebrities. My team managed 50+ global ad partners across video, display, mobile, tablet, TV and OOH. I helped to create our production services business and built the Ustream Studio in Los Angeles. I was also responsible for assisting with corporate development and M&A efforts at various points in my tenure.
Advisor (formerly VP, Operations)
2009 - 2012
I oversaw or advised on the digital and corporate strategies, sales and operations. Xomad is the first company to assemble international, localized networks of digital influencers hand-selected by Xomad and mobilize them around branded activations creating powerful endorsements from friends, to friends
Strategy Consultant
2006 - 2009
Media, Entertainment and Technology Specialist 30+ cases. Experience includes business strategy development, new market and product entry analysis, private equity due diligence, revenue enhancement and M&A support for clients in the media, entertainment & technology; amusements & attractions; biotech & healthcare; retail products; energy & environmental; food & beverage; and private jet industries A few client case examples: Built strategic plans and financial models for all business lines of a top Los Angeles attraction identifying over 125 new revenue and cost saving opportunities as well as a restructuring plan expected to increase revenues over 60%; Developed separate market forecasts and profitability assessments, including scenario and sensitivity analyses, of all video mediums (i.e., DVD, rental, VOD, internet) and related emerging technologies, for 2 major motion picture studios; Assessed the market opportunity and channel strategy, including scenario modeling of revenues through various medium for a multibillion dollar private equity client targeting the purchase of a major cosmetics company
Analyst
2005 - 2005
Worked with the Equity Sales Trading, Program Trading, and Securities Lending Desks.
Goldman Sachs is a multinational financial services firm providing securities, investment banking, and management services.
Education
B.A.
2002 - 2006