Factory CEO accuses former board advisor of spying for rival Cognition after advisor joins competitor as CRO
Factory CEO Matan Grinberg says former board advisor Chris Degnan discussed joining rival Cognition while attending Factory meetings; Degnan denies sharing confidential information. Hours later, Degnan announced he was Cognition’s CRO after 11 years as Snowflake’s CRO.
Matan Grinberg, co-founder and CEO of AI coding startup Factory, publicly accused former board advisor Chris Degnan of sharing confidential company information with Cognition, Factory’s biggest competitor, in a post on X on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Hours later, Degnan announced he had joined Cognition as its chief revenue officer and denied the allegations.
Grinberg said he fired Degnan from his board advisory role on Tuesday after learning that Degnan had been in ongoing talks with Cognition while still attending Factory board meetings. Grinberg wrote that Degnan had previously told him he had only a “casual” conversation with a Cognition executive and had “made too much money” and was “too lazy to go work for Cognition” — assurances Grinberg said he believed. On Monday, Degnan disclosed he had in fact been in active discussions with the competitor.
Degnan disputes Grinberg’s account. He says he resigned rather than being fired, that the last Factory board meeting he attended was weeks before he had “ever spoken” to Cognition, and that he has not shared confidential information. Degnan also says that when he informed Grinberg of his resignation, Grinberg offered him a full-time role at Factory, which he declined.
Degnan spent 11 years as Snowflake’s chief revenue officer and had been a partner at RPT Partners, a Newport Beach, California-based investor in Factory, for the past five months. His announcement noted that RPT and its managing partner Chad Peets would also be working with Cognition.
The dispute drew in Khosla Ventures, which is an investor in both companies. Firm founder Vinod Khosla accused Grinberg of lying about firing Degnan and called Factory “a struggling second tier competitor.” Khosla partner Keith Rabois sided with Factory, calling it “unethical per se to even interview at a competitor while attending board meetings.”
Factory raised $200 million at a $5 billion valuation earlier in September 2026. Cognition, maker of the Devin coding agent, raised $2 billion at a $48 billion valuation the same month. The conflict may carry broader implications: Andreessen Horowitz is reportedly the subject of a Justice Department probe into its partners serving on competitors’ boards.