Natalie Gordon

Natalie Gordon is the founder and CEO of Babylist, the universal baby registry that has redefined how expectant parents shop. Raised in Ontario, Canada, she studied mathematics and computer science before joining Amazon as a software engineer in the early 2000s. Gordon was part of the founding team for Amazon Fresh, where she learned the complexities of logistics and e-commerce at scale. After four years, she left to travel Latin America for 18 months, building her first startup—Lengua Hero, a language exchange platform—while living in Cuba, Colombia, and Mexico. It was during this period, while pregnant with her first child, that she experienced the frustration of traditional baby stores and registries limited to single retailers. That pain point inspired Babylist. Returning to North America in 2011, she launched the platform while writing code during her baby's nap times. Babylist's universal approach—registering for items from any store, plus practical services like diaper deliveries—resonated with millennial families. Under her leadership, the company has facilitated nearly 100 million gifts and generates over $500 million in annual sales, expanding to include its own retail shop, reviews, and educational content. Based in Oakland, California, Gordon's journey from Amazon engineer to mompreneur shows how personal frustration can birth a category-defining business.