Matt Barrie was born in Adelaide, Australia in August 1973. Barrie graduated from the University of Sydney and Stanford University. In 2001 he founded a company called Sensory Networks. Intel acquired Sensory in 2013 for $20 million. He founded Freelancer in 2009. The company was valued at $100 to $250 million by 2011. In 2013 Freelancer turned down a $400 million acquisition offer from Recruit Co. Ltd. Freelancer went public on an Australian stock exchange in 2013. The company briefly had a market cap north of $1 billion. Unfortunately by 2021 the company’s market cap sank to around $120 million. Barrie also serves as an adjunct associate professor at the University of Sydney and teaches classes on computer and network security as well as technology venture creation.