Tailscale vs Wiz: Founders, CEOs and History
Tailscale was founded in 2019 by Avery Pennarun, David Crawshaw, David Carney and is led by Avery Pennarun. Wiz was founded in 2020 by Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Ami Luttwak and is led by Assaf Rappaport.
Company facts
Founders
Tailscale
Avery Pennarun
Avery Pennarun is co-founder and CEO of Tailscale. Before Tailscale he worked at Google, including on Google Fiber, and earlier built open-source tools and wrote widely read essays on engineering and product management.
David Crawshaw
David Crawshaw co-founded Tailscale in 2019 and served as its chief technology officer, building much of the early coordination server and client in Go. He previously worked at Google, including on the Go programming language.
David Carney
David Carney co-founded Tailscale in 2019. Serving as the absolutely critical initial backend architect, he helped design the highly robust, incredibly scalable control plane that allows millions of distributed devices to instantly discover and connect to each…
Brad Fitzpatrick
Brad Fitzpatrick created LiveJournal and the Memcached caching system, then spent years at Google working on the Go language.
Wiz
Assaf Rappaport
Assaf Rappaport is co-founder and CEO of Wiz. He led the company's fundraising from its $100 million Series A in 2020 to its $1 billion round at a $12 billion valuation in 2024, declined Google's $23 billion offer in July 2024, and then agreed to the $32 billi…
Yinon Costica
Yinon Costica co-founded Wiz in 2020. Having served extensively in the elite Unit 8200 of the Israeli Defense Forces, he brought absolutely unparalleled expertise in nation-state level cyber threats.
Ami Luttwak
Ami Luttwak co-founded Wiz in 2020. As the absolutely critical technical genius (also a Unit 8200 veteran), he built the core engineering engine capable of plugging directly into massive AWS and Azure APIs to instantly find zero-day vulnerabilities without req…
Roy Reznik
Roy Reznik co-founded Wiz in 2020. He managed the incredibly complex, massive backend scaling required to analyze billions of cloud configuration files across massive Fortune 500 networks in real-time, completely revolutionizing how quickly enterprises could d…
CEOs and their tenures
Tailscale
- Avery Pennarun2019–present
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Co-founded Tailscale and sets its product and company strategy.
Source - David Crawshaw2019–present
Co-Founder
As Co-Founder and CTO, he is the absolute visionary behind the platform's incredibly elegant, peer-to-peer routing architecture.
Source - Mike Shaver2026–present
VP of Engineering
As an early executive and key operational leader, he helped translate deep, complex networking technology into an incredibly simple, highly commercial B2B product.
Source - Ross Kukulinski2026–present
VP of Product
As a senior product leader, he manages the absolute critical roadmap required to secure highly lucrative, multi-million dollar contracts with Fortune 500 CISOs.
Source
Wiz
- Assaf Rappaport2020–present
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Leads Wiz's strategy and led the company through its funding rounds and the sale to Alphabet.
Source - Dali Rajic2024–present
President and Chief Operating Officer
Recruited as President and COO (formerly of Zscaler), he brings absolute enterprise sales discipline, heavily preparing the massive cybersecurity darling for a highly anticipated IPO.
Source
Timeline: Tailscale and Wiz side by side
2019Tailscale
Company founded
Founded by Pennarun, Crawshaw and Carney.
2020Tailscale
Seed and Series A
$3 million seed in April; $12 million Series A led by Accel in November.
2020Wiz
Founding and Series A
Founded in January; raised a $100 million Series A in December.
2021Wiz
Series B and C
Raised $250 million across a Series B at a $1.7 billion valuation, then $250 million in October at a $6 billion valuation.
2022Tailscale
Series B
$100 million led by CRV and Insight Partners.
2023Wiz
Series D
Raised $300 million in February at a $10 billion valuation.
2023Wiz
Acquired Raftt
Wiz acquired Raftt for $50 million.
2024Wiz
Series E, acquisitions, and declined Google offer
Raised $1 billion at $12 billion in May, bought Gem Security and Dazz, and declined Google's $23 billion offer in July.
2025Tailscale
Series C
$160 million led by Accel at a reported ~$1.5 billion valuation.
2025Wiz
Alphabet agreement and U.S. clearance
Agreed to a $32 billion sale to Alphabet in March; the deal cleared U.S. antitrust review in November.
2026Tailscale
Border0 joins Tailscale
Adds privileged access for production systems, databases and Kubernetes.
2026Tailscale
Pricing v4
Simplified plans and more predictable pricing.
2026Tailscale
Nearly 40,000 paying customers; Mike Shaver hired
Customer count roughly doubles since November 2025; new VP of Engineering appointed.
2026Wiz
EU approval and closing
European Commission approved the deal unconditionally in February; it closed on March 11.
Acquisitions
Questions about Tailscale vs Wiz
Who is the CEO of Tailscale and Wiz, Inc.?
Tailscale is led by Avery Pennarun and Wiz, Inc. is led by Assaf Rappaport. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Tailscale founded vs Wiz, Inc.?
Tailscale was founded in 2019 — 1 year before Wiz, Inc., which was founded in 2020. Tailscale's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Wiz, Inc..
How many employees does Tailscale have compared to Wiz, Inc.?
Tailscale employs approximately 300 people, while Wiz, Inc. employs approximately 1,800. Wiz, Inc. has the larger workforce at 1,800 employees, compared to Tailscale's 300. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Tailscale and Wiz, Inc. headquartered?
Tailscale is headquartered in Canada and Wiz, Inc. is headquartered in United States. Their different home markets mean they may face different regulatory frameworks, tax regimes, and currency exposure.
Who founded Tailscale and Wiz, Inc.?
Tailscale was founded by Avery Pennarun, David Crawshaw, David Carney, Brad Fitzpatrick. Wiz, Inc. was founded by Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Ami Luttwak, Roy Reznik.
Which company has a longer operating history — Tailscale or Wiz, Inc.?
Tailscale has been operating for approximately 7 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Wiz, Inc. has been in operation for around 6 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Tailscale vs Wiz overview