Cyan Banister
Born 1977 · Age 48
American self-taught engineer, entrepreneur, prolific angel investor and early-stage VC partner; early investor in Uber, SpaceX, Niantic, Postmates, Affirm, Carta and others; co-founder of Zivity; first female investing partner at Founders Fund; partner at Long Journey Ventures.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born (Cyan Starr Callihan)
Cyan Banister (born Cyan Starr Callihan) was born; grew up on the Navajo reservation in Arizona.
Became homeless / ward of the state
At age 15 she became homeless and (per interview) became a ward of the state; lived on the streets and carried out survival strategies.
Dropped out of high school (approx.)
Left high school around 10th grade; did not pursue formal college education and began self-teaching technical skills.
First small businesses — selling books, clothes, jewelry
Sold donated books, clothing and handmade jewelry/necklaces to earn money while living independently; early entrepreneurial experience.
Started silk‑screen T‑shirt business
Began silk‑screening band/punk T‑shirts and patches (punk merch business) — first sustainable small business that sparked interest in capitalism and later tech.
Met Chris Collins — introduced to computers/tech
Met Chris Collins (who bought her merch) and through him encountered laptops/online culture which triggered an interest in coding, sysadmin work and the internet.
Self‑taught systems administration / first sysadmin job
Taught herself to code and be a systems administrator, began working in technical roles (dial‑up ISP tech support then sysadmin roles).
Moved to San Francisco / worked at NBCi and elsewhere
Moved to San Francisco; worked at NBCi and other early-web companies; had a month‑long stint in Hong Kong (per profile) prior to later roles.
Taught at‑risk and formerly incarcerated women to code
Worked at Women’s Economic Agenda Project teaching IT skills to formerly incarcerated women (noted as a proud, difficult achievement).
Joined IronPort Systems (entered cybersecurity)
Started at IronPort Systems as standards & practices manager and rose through technical/security management ranks.
Married Scott Banister (approx.)
Married long-time partner Scott Banister in a Las Vegas Elvis‑officiated ceremony; later celebrated with a second ceremony in Brussels for family.
IronPort acquired by Cisco (exit)
Cisco acquired IronPort for reported $830M; Cyan had equity and received a meaningful liquidity event (her 'first big exit').
Invested significant proceeds into SpaceX
Following IronPort exit, she invested a large portion of her payout into SpaceX (described as 'blew up my nest egg on a rocket ship').
Banister Capital persona / began attending tech conferences as an angel
Adopted the 'Banister Capital' label (a two‑person angel identity with husband Scott) to gain access to panels and events; used it to source early deals.
Early angel investments sourced at Disrupt/pitch events
Discovered and invested in companies like Uber, Thumbtack, Niantic, Postmates, eShares (Carta) and others by attending conferences and pitch nights.
Became a top angel (Crunchbase/industry recognition begins)
Over the 2010s Cyan and Scott rose to prominence as prolific angels; later named top angels in industry leaderboards (2010–2020 period).
Topsy acquisition by Apple (exit)
Topsy, a social indexer Cyan invested in early, was acquired by Apple for reported ~$225M in 2013 (portfolio exit event).
Pause from heavy angeling; joined AngelList (role)
After a period of active angel investing, Cyan worked at AngelList to keep network relevance and help onboard angels onto the platform.
Joined Founders Fund as first female investing partner (role)
Became the first woman investing partner at Peter Thiel's Founders Fund; led seed and early-stage investments for the firm.
Invested in Niantic (pre‑Pokemon Go); Niantic valuation $150M
Backed Niantic in 2016 when company had ~ $150M valuation pre‑Pokemon Go breakout (Cyan had deep user research that led to the investment).
TechCrunch Angels of the Year (award)
Cyan and husband Scott Banister were named TechCrunch 'Angels of the Year' (recognition for prolific angel investing).
Came out publicly as genderqueer (Wired profile)
Publicly came out as genderqueer in a Wired profile/interview, discussing gender and identity.
Pokémon GO launch and Niantic user milestone
Niantic released Pokémon GO in 2016; the game later reached ~150M players worldwide—validating Cyan's investment thesis/market immersion approach.
Spoke publicly about early life at TechCrunch Disrupt
Gave a public talk at TechCrunch Disrupt recounting homelessness-to-VC journey and path into tech and investing.
Shut down Zivity (approx.)
Zivity (adult-themed social site she co‑founded) ran for ~10 years and was wound down/closed around 2019; she publicly announced closure and reflections.
Public Zivity promotional act / tweeted about reactions
Discussed posting nude photos to promote Zivity and shared responses publicly (tweet threads from Sept 13, 2019 recounting reactions).
Left Founders Fund (approx.)
Stepped away from Founders Fund; cited early-stage investing preference and stage fit differences as reasons for leaving (reported 2020).
Reported >170 portfolio companies with Scott Banister (milestone)
Profiles note Cyan and Scott had invested together in more than 170 portfolio companies and achieved ~42 exits by this period.
Joined / led Long Journey Ventures (role)
Listed as a general partner / partner at Long Journey Ventures, an early-stage VC focused on long-term early investments (public profiles 2022–2024).
TipTop Series A (portfolio/funding event)
TipTop raised $23M in Series A on May 12, 2022; Cyan is reported to have participated (Pin profile cites this as a recent investment).
Publicly advocates for immersive market research and user‑led investing
Known for investing thesis: deep product/market immersion (becoming a user), focusing on founders, contrarian/early bets (stated in multiple interviews/podcasts).
Featured on Tim Ferriss Show (major interview)
Long-form interview with Tim Ferriss (Nov 28, 2024) recounting life story, investments (Uber, SpaceX, Niantic, etc.), philosophy and Substack.
Publishes / runs The Ugly Duckling Substack
Publishes personal writing (The Ugly Duckling Substack), serializing autobiography/excerpts and cultural/personal essays.
Public persona: >100 personal investments and continued angel activity
Profiles and interviews (2024) state Cyan has personally invested in over 100 companies and remains an active angel and early-stage investor.
Key Achievement Ages
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