North Bay Ventures
Jon Oringer
Jon Oringer is the founder of North Bay Ventures, a Miami venture studio that builds AI-native companies. He previously founded Shutterstock in 2003 and led it as CEO through its listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012.
Updated October 31, 2026
Who is Jon Oringer?
Jon Oringer is a software engineer and entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of Shutterstock, the stock photography and media marketplace. He started it in 2003 by uploading his own photos and grew it into one of the largest marketplaces for licensed images, video and music, serving customers around the world.
Today he runs North Bay Ventures, where he starts and builds new companies, writing product and working directly with the AI agents that do much of the engineering and operations work.
What did Jon Oringer build at Shutterstock?
Shutterstock was one of the early two-sided marketplaces for creative work: contributors upload photos, videos and music, and businesses license them. Its subscription model let customers download images at scale instead of buying them one at a time. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012 under the ticker SSTK.
That experience with marketplaces, creators and self-serve software runs through North Bay Ventures. Transformer, for example, is also a marketplace between creators and the businesses that pay them.
What is Jon Oringer building now?
At North Bay Ventures he is building three companies:
- Sandboxer, cloud sandboxes where AI agents and people get their own isolated Linux computers, billed per second.
- Transformer, an influencer marketplace where brands and their agents pay creators only for verified posts.
- Flagger.gg, feature flags for AI agents.
All three are designed so that AI agents can use them directly, through an API, a CLI or an MCP server.
Why AI-native companies?
The cost of building software has dropped sharply because AI agents can now do much of the work. That changes what a small team can attempt, and it creates new needs, such as safe places for agents to run code and new ways to reach customers. North Bay Ventures exists to build companies for that world. See what makes a company AI-native.
How do I follow Jon Oringer?
Jon posts on X as @jonoringer. For the studio, email [email protected].
Frequently asked questions
What company did Jon Oringer found?
Jon Oringer founded Shutterstock in 2003. He now runs North Bay Ventures, a venture studio that builds Sandboxer, Transformer and Flagger.gg.
When did Shutterstock go public?
Shutterstock listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012, under the ticker SSTK.
Where is Jon Oringer's company based?
North Bay Ventures is based in Miami, Florida.