Patrick Gruban
Bio
Updated 03/23/26Patrick Gruban is a serial entrepreneur and nonprofit leader based in Munich, Germany, currently serving as Chief Operating Officer (and interim CEO) at Successif, an organization that helps experienced professionals transition into high-impact careers in AI safety and related fields. He previously served as Co-Director of Effective Altruism Germany from November 2022 through 2024, having been involved with EA Munich as an organizer since 2020. He also serves as a Trustee at Effective Ventures UK and as a board member of the Talos Network. Gruban brings over 25 years of entrepreneurial experience across software development, banking and fintech, and textiles; he founded a venture-backed software company that grew to over 100 employees before the dot-com crisis, later co-founded a fintech firm, and ran a wool yarn business with his wife for over a decade. He has no formal university degree, a point he has highlighted publicly when encouraging non-traditional career paths into AI safety and EA work. He has written on the EA Forum about co-founder matching for AI-alignment startups and unconventional routes into high-impact careers, and received a small LTFF travel grant in 2022 to support an in-person co-founder matching weekend in London for a prospective human data collection organization.
Community Signal
Updated 03/23/26No endorsements yet.