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Spencer Penn
LightSource.ai | Forbes 30 under 30 | ex-Tesla
Spencer Penn is the Co-Founder and CEO of LightSource, a company that provides a procurement intelligence platform for the manufacturing industry.1 He founded LightSource in 2021 after spending most of his career at Tesla, where he helped oversee the Model 3 program from start through launch.2
During his time at Tesla, Penn discovered the challenges in supply chain and procurement, particularly the reliance on Excel spreadsheets and emails for managing billions of dollars worth of car parts.2 This experience led him to create LightSource, which aims to be the operating system for procurement and supply chain managers.2
Before founding LightSource, Penn's career included:
- Product Manager at Waymo (2019-2021)3
- Business Operations & Finance in the Engineering R&D Group at Tesla (2016-2018)3
- Research Engineer at the University of Pennsylvania (2015-2016)3
- Founder of Sweet Bites Gum (2013-2016)3
Penn has a strong educational background, holding:
- A Bachelor of Science in Finance and Business Operations from The Wharton School3
- A Master of Science in Robotics Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania3
- A Master of Science in Engineering with a concentration in Computer Science from Harvard University3
- An MBA from Harvard Business School, which he completed with distinction3
As of January 2025, LightSource is used by over 300 companies across four continents and 24 countries.2 Penn describes the company culture as fun and smart, with a "culture of kindness".2 He also mentions that LightSource has secured funding providing five years of runway.2

