• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechVenture Capital

Revealed: Identity Behind Ultra-Popular ‘Startup L. Jackson’ Twitter Persona

Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 17, 2016, 4:30 PM ET
Premiere Of The Weinstein Company's "The Hateful Eight" - Arrivals
HOLLYWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 07: Actor Samuel L. Jackson attends the Premiere of The Weinstein Company's "The Hateful Eight" at ArcLight Cinemas Cinerama Dome on December 7, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)Jason Merritt—Getty Images

Mystery solved.

An anonymous, wry Twitter account that served up satire and sagacity from the heart of Silicon Valley has been outed. The man behind @StartupLJackson, a persona that chronicled the follies and foibles of the entrepreneurial tech world—turned out to be a comparatively lesser known venture capitalist who works at the fundraising and recruitment firm AngelList, Bloomberg Business reports. His name is Parker Thompson.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Thompson cleverly channeled his sardonic observations through the imaginary voice of actor Samuel L. Jackson portraying his hitman character in the Quentin Tarantino classic Pulp Fiction. He began the charade in 2011 while working at the software development firm Pivotal Labs as an experiment to see whether he could gain a following, Bloomberg reports.

Four years and nearly 80,000 followers later, Thompson has decided to retire his character. The Startup L. Jackson account went suddenly silent at the end of last year. His last tweets on Dec. 31 concerned Bitcoin, imagined quotes from “Startup Marx,” a quip comparing the careers of George Lucas, Bill Cosby, and Michael Jackson, and a criticism of Twitter’s approach to fixing its workplace homogeneity by appointing a “diversity and inclusion” officer.

“It became the thing it was critiquing,” Thompson told Bloomberg. (He also apparently participates as a co-investor in Bloomberg Beta’s “Open Scouts” program, the company’s venture capital arm.)

For more on Twitter, watch:

 

Bloomberg writers Brad Stone and Ellen Huet describe the man behind the masquerade as a “37-year-old father of two who is a connoisseur of podcasts and technology journalism,” who says he “doesn’t go out of his way to be known.” His personal Twitter account, @pt had fewer than 6,000 followers at the time of the writing of this post.

Current status: reading emails… pic.twitter.com/vS2y7GVuJC

— parker (@pt) March 17, 2016

 

Startup L. Jackson—or Thompson, rather—is scheduled to do a live chat on the product discovery site Product Hunt on March 23 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard.

About the Author
Robert Hackett
By Robert Hackett
Instagram iconLinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
Fortune Secondary Logo
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

sarandos
InvestingMedia
3 things we will never know after Netflix pulled out of the Warner Bros. bidding, handing it to Paramount
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 28, 2026
2 hours ago
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
AIAnthropic
OpenAI sweeps in to ink deal with Pentagon as Anthropic is designated a ‘supply chain risk’—an unprecedented action likely to crimp its growth
By Jeremy KahnFebruary 28, 2026
2 hours ago
Big TechAmerican Politics
Your spend as a ‘weapon’: Scott Galloway’s ‘Resist and Unsubscribe’ movement asks you to ditch Amazon, Apple, and Netflix to oppose Trump
By Kristin StollerFebruary 28, 2026
6 hours ago
world's fair
CommentaryRobots
Something big is happening in AI, but panic is the wrong reaction
By Peter CappelliFebruary 28, 2026
7 hours ago
AIMarkets
The week the AI scare turned real and America realized maybe it isn’t ready for what’s coming
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 28, 2026
8 hours ago
AIFinance
She joined Block to build AI. Weeks later, AI cost her job.
By Sheryl EstradaFebruary 28, 2026
8 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Success
Japanese companies are paying older workers to sit by a window and do nothing—while Western CEOs demand super-AI productivity just to keep your job
By Orianna Rosa RoyleFebruary 27, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Walmart exec says U.S. workforces needs to take inspiration from China where ‘5 year-olds are learning DeepSeek’
By Preston ForeFebruary 27, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Law
China's government intervenes to show Michigan scientists were carrying worms, not biological materials
By Ed White and The Associated PressFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of February 27, 2026
By Danny BakstFebruary 27, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Commentary
'The Pitt': a masterclass display of DEI in action 
By Robert RabenFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Come 2030, the U.S. deficit will be worth 5.9% of GDP—more than spending on Social Security, and equal to major health programs
By Eleanor PringleFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.