Founders Fund hires former OpenAI exec Ryan Beiermeister (and not because of her Mafia skills)

Ryan Beiermeister has announced that she is joining Founders Fund as a partner, effective Monday. She is well-known in Silicon Valley for her previous role at OpenAI, where she spent about two years as Vice President of Product Policy before being fired in February. Her firing reportedly stemmed from her objection to a planned ChatGPT feature called "adult mode," which would have allowed adults to use the chatbot for erotic content. The Wall Street Journal reported that a male colleague accused her of sexual discrimination, but Beiermeister called any allegation that she discriminated against anyone "absolutely false." In March, OpenAI reportedly scrapped plans for adult mode.

More recently, Beiermeister gained attention for her skillful strategy in Founders Fund's YouTube show "Mafia," where players try to identify secret Mafia killers. She competed against OpenAI's Sam Altman, Anduril's Palmer Luckey, Figma's Dylan Field, Flexport's Ryan Petersen, Founders Fund's Trae Stephens, and others. An intense moment in the first episode involved her and Altman each accusing the other. Some speculated the game was a job interview, but a Founders Fund spokesperson confirmed it was not. "Though she is an excellent Mafia player, that wasn't part of her interview process. She has been close with Trae Stephens since they worked together at Palantir and has been friendly with our team for years," the spokesperson said.

Beiermeister expressed interest in investing in startups that tackle difficult engineering challenges. "The companies that will define the next twenty years are being built in the categories where product engineering is hardest and the stakes are highest — AI infrastructure and agentic systems, defense, energy, climate, biotech, the regulated frontier," she wrote on LinkedIn. "To the founders in these domains, especially if you don't fit the standard mold: I want to talk to you and my inbox is open."