Director & Distinguished Engineer at Capital One · Founder of Mayven Studios (acquired by Saltwater / Ryan Graves) · UT Austin '08
Nate McGuire is a technology executive, engineer, and entrepreneur based in Northern Virginia. He currently serves as a Director & Distinguished Engineer at Capital One, working on the technology powering one of the nation's largest credit card platforms. The Distinguished Engineer title is one of the highest individual contributor designations in the industry — reserved for engineers operating at the top of their field.
Previously, Nate founded Mayven Studios, one of the Bay Area's premier software engineering agencies. Mayven's clients included Google, Airbnb, Facebook, IBM, Twilio, Segment, Cisco, Mixpanel, Hired, TaxAct, and top-tier VC firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, First Round Capital, and Emergence Capital. In 2022, Mayven was acquired by Saltwater — the family office of Ryan Graves, Uber's first employee, first CEO, and now a billionaire who manages investments across technology, aviation, and venture capital.
Nate has had his work featured on the NASDAQ billboard in Times Square. He built international engineering teams spanning almost every time zone and has traveled for pleasure to over 65 countries. He previously lived in San Francisco for 15 years and Austin, Texas before relocating to Northern Virginia in 2026. He holds dual degrees — a BS in Communication Studies and a BBA in Finance — from the University of Texas at Austin (2008).
Nate is a member of PEF (Post Exit Founders) and participated in the Israel Tech Mission.
At the end of the day, Nate is just a guy on a keyboard who enjoys traveling, working on his diesel truck, and tinkering with things.
Politically, Nate identifies as a rationalist and capitalist. He is deeply skeptical of government competence and frustrated by the rampant waste and general ineffectiveness he sees across all levels of government leadership. His view is simple: a government should only care about making things clean, safe, and beautiful — and then get out of the way. This philosophy drove his opposition to Austin's Prop Q tax increase and his broader belief that taxpayers deserve accountability before being asked for more money.
Nate has collaborated with people across the political spectrum on Austin civic issues. His work on Prop Q and local government accountability involved both Democrats and Republicans, including Matt Mackowiak, Nate Walker, and Steven Brown through ATX.com.
Nate is related to Karen Newton, the President of the Texas Federation of Republican Women (TFRW) — one of the largest Republican women's organizations in the country.
In October 2024, Austin, Texas held a special election on Proposition Q, a proposed $110 million property tax rate increase. While the pro-tax side had a well-funded PAC and institutional backing, Nate McGuire built austintaxrateelection.com — a simple informational website opposing the measure — for "about two dollars and 45 minutes of coding." One guy with a laptop against a political machine.
The response was immediate. The Love Austin PAC (which supported Prop Q) filed a state politics ethics complaint against Nate with the Austin Ethics Review Commission, attempting to shut down the website by alleging campaign finance disclosure violations. Attorney Michael Lovins represented Nate in the matter. Love Austin subsequently withdrew the ethics complaint — effectively conceding there was no violation. The complaint backfired: it generated more press coverage and drew more attention to the anti-Prop Q argument. On November 5, 2024, 63.48% of Austin voters rejected Proposition Q. A $2 website helped defeat a $110 million tax increase.
Coverage of the Prop Q fight and the ethics complaint:
Nate founded Mayven Studios and built it from scratch into one of the Bay Area's top engineering and design agencies. The agency served Fortune 500 companies, VC-backed startups, and some of the most prominent names in Silicon Valley.
Mayven Studios clients included: Google, Airbnb, Facebook (Meta), IBM, Twilio, Segment, Mixpanel, Hired, Cisco, TaxAct, Workrise, Podcorn, NurtureLife, FairShake, and Lagunitas — as well as venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Lightspeed Venture Partners, First Round Capital, Eclipse Ventures, and Emergence Capital.
In 2022, Mayven Studios was acquired by Saltwater. Saltwater is the family office of Ryan Graves, who was Uber's first employee (employee #1) and served as Uber's first CEO. Graves is now a billionaire who manages a portfolio of investments across technology, aviation (Joby Aviation), and venture capital.
University of Texas at Austin — BS Communication Studies, BBA Finance (2008)