Robert Leshner

Robert Leshner is a prominent American entrepreneur and founder of Compound, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Personal Stats

Age:	39
Source of wealth:	Product development, Investing
Residence:	USA
Citizenship:	USA
Marital status:	Unknown
Education:	University of Pennsylvania

Education

Robert Leshner graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in economics. In addition, he is a Certified Financial Analyst.

Career

Prior to founding Compound, Leshner co-founded Safe Shepherd, a privacy-focused startup that helped customers protect their personal data. He also worked for food delivery app Postmates as the lead of its merchant division. In addition, Leshner served as the co-chair of the San Francisco Revenue Bond Oversight Committee.

In August 2017, Leshner launched Compound, an open-source interest rate protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain.The firm has raised over $33.2 million through its two funding rounds, primarily from venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz. The company's token, COMP, reached an all-time high of $231 per token around late June, making it one of the key players in the growing DeFi (Decentralized Finance) network.

Leshner’s innovation with Compound's interest rate protocol and distribution of governance rights to its users helped kickstart the DeFi megatrend in 2020. Leshner's Compound inspired the concept of many DeFi lending protocols, such as Cream Finance, which launched in 2020 as a direct fork of Compound's codebase.

Beyond his work in DeFi, Leshner is an active investor in innovative ideas, such as Braintrust, a traditional startup that has adopted DeFi governance elements.