Adam Robinson built three multimillion-dollar software companies without ever raising a dollar of outside funding. He graduated from Rice University in Houston, spent a decade as a credit derivatives trader at Lehman Brothers, and then walked away from Wall Street to become one of the most visible bootstrapped founders in the SaaS industry. His company Retention.com grew to $22 million in annual recurring revenue with just six employees. His newer venture, RB2B, reached $4 million ARR in its first eight months. On LinkedIn, where he had built a following of more than 90,000, Robinson regularly shared his financial statements, his hiring mistakes, and his unvarnished opinions on startup culture. He was 44 years old. On Sunday, November 1, 2026, Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, their children Emma (age 4) and Charlie (age 2), their nanny Anita Maria Cetina, and friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr boarded a chartered Learjet 60 at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. Shortly before 1 p.m. Eastern Time, the jet plummeted from 35,000 feet and crashed into a residential area near Greenacres, Florida, in Palm Beach County. All nine people on board, including pilot Jeff Gregory, 55, and co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, were killed. There were no survivors.
| Adam Robinson: Quick-Reference Profile | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Adam Robinson |
| Age at Time of Death | 44 |
| Hometown | Austin, Texas (raised in Houston) |
| Education | Rice University, Houston (Class of 2003) |
| Wall Street Career | Credit derivatives trader, Lehman Brothers (approx. 2003 to 2013) |
| Companies Founded | Robly (2014), GetEmails/Retention.com (2019), RB2B (2024), MoltSets (2026) |
| Retention.com Revenue | $22 million ARR (bootstrapped, 6 employees) |
| RB2B Revenue | ~$4 million ARR in first 8 months |
| Wife | Helen Sharp, 40 (ceramicist, PR executive) |
| Children | Emma Robinson, 4; Charlie Robinson, 2 |
| LinkedIn Following | ~92,000+ followers |
| Flight | Learjet 60, registration N722BD |
| Departure | Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Texas |
| Destination | North Eleuthera Airport, Bahamas |
| Date of Crash | November 1, 2026 |
| Crash Location | Greenacres, Palm Beach County, Florida |
From Wall Street Trader to Bootstrapped Tech Founder: Adam Robinson’s Career
Adam Robinson grew up in Houston, Texas, and graduated from Rice University in 2003. He moved to New York City and landed a job as a credit derivatives trader at Lehman Brothers, where he spent roughly a decade trading real estate-related credit default swaps. In a podcast interview with Sramana Mitra, he described the role as “the most interesting job for someone in their 20’s,” though the 2008 financial crisis and the regulations that followed gradually shrank the market for his specialty. After Lehman’s collapse in 2008, Robinson moved to Barclays Capital, which absorbed parts of Lehman’s operations, and continued trading until approximately 2011 to 2013.
When he left Wall Street, Robinson carried savings he had accumulated over a decade and a desire to build something of his own. He had lived in a large New York loft alongside Jake Lodwick, the co-founder of Vimeo and an early developer at CollegeHumor, and the experience had planted what Robinson later called a long-held “fantasy of starting a tech company.”
His first venture was Robly, an email marketing platform he co-founded with his brother around 2012 to 2014. Robly grew by cold-calling a scraped list of roughly 250,000 Constant Contact customers and reached $1 million in annual recurring revenue within 17 months. The company eventually plateaued near $3 million ARR and was sold to a private equity firm for approximately $10 million. Robinson never took external capital.
In November 2019, he launched GetEmails, a website visitor identification tool that matched anonymous site visitors to hashed email addresses. The product was later renamed Retention.com and grew to approximately $22 million in annual recurring revenue. The company operated with just six employees and maintained an 87 percent gross margin. In January 2024 alone, Retention.com reported roughly $1.7 million in monthly revenue against only $204,000 in total operating expenses.
In March 2024, Robinson launched RB2B, a B2B product that identifies anonymous website visitors and matches them to LinkedIn profiles. It reached $1 million ARR in 16 weeks and grew to approximately $4 million ARR in its first eight months, making it one of the fastest-growing non-AI SaaS products of that year. In June 2026, he launched MoltSets, a contact data API platform built for AI agents.
Robinson was a prominent voice in the bootstrapping community. He publicly shared his profit-and-loss statements, discussed his hiring mistakes and layoffs, and built a LinkedIn following exceeding 90,000. His philosophy was direct: “Do not take institutional capital,” he told the SaaS Club podcast. He ran the “$10M ARR Club,” a mentorship group for founders, and regularly appeared on podcasts including ProfitLed, where he said, “I feel like I’m living the dream.”
Helen Sharp: Ceramicist, PR Executive, and Devoted Mother
Helen Sharp, 40, was Robinson’s wife. She was an artist and entrepreneur in her own right, operating Helen Sharp Ceramics, a ceramics business she had recently established, and Influential PR, a public relations and communications firm she founded and ran as CEO. She frequently shared videos of her ceramic work and photographs of her family on social media.
The couple had recently relocated from Austin, Texas, to Aspen, Colorado. In his ProfitLed podcast appearance, Robinson described how the move had allowed him to spend more time with his children and had reduced the travel demands of running his companies. Helen’s father, Dudley Sharp, 70, confirmed to the Palm Beach Post that his daughter and her family were aboard the jet. He described the news as “quite a blow.”
Emma Robinson, 4, and Charlie Robinson, 2, were the couple’s children. The joint family statement issued on Monday described them as “the light of their lives.” Robinson’s brother, in a separate tribute, wrote that “Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever.”
The Other Victims: Anita Maria Cetina, Rachael Reed, and Charmi Fehr
Three other passengers were aboard the Learjet alongside the Robinson-Sharp family.
Anita Maria Cetina was the family’s nanny and caretaker for Emma and Charlie. The family statement identified her by her full name, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina, and described her as someone who cared for the children “with tenderness and devotion.” The statement added that she “was truly part of the family.”
Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr were a couple and close friends of Robinson and Sharp. The family tribute described them as “full of joy and adventure” and said they “loved their people fiercely.” No additional biographical details about Reed and Fehr have been publicly released.
The joint family statement, posted on Facebook on Monday, November 2, expressed grief and thanked first responders, investigators, and the Palm Beach County community. It noted that the families were also grieving alongside the pilots’ families and asked for privacy. Memorial service details have not yet been announced.
The Pilots: Jeff Gregory and Nathalia Filgueiras
The two crew members aboard the Learjet were pilot-in-command Jeff Gregory, 55, and co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20.
Gregory was identified by TMZ as the captain. One report indicated he was heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer in the final moments before impact. Additional biographical details about Gregory have not been widely reported.
Filgueiras was a Boca Raton, Florida, native of Brazilian heritage who earned her private pilot license in September 2023 at age 17, before she was eligible for a driver’s license. She had trained through the School District of Palm Beach County’s Aviation Academy and later graduated from American Flyers, a flight school with a campus in Pompano Beach, Florida. According to her social media, she held commercial, multi-engine, instrument, and CFI/CFI-I (Certified Flight Instructor/Certified Flight Instructor-Instrument) ratings. BroBible reported she had logged more than 1,300 flight hours. Her sister, Giulia Filgueiras, told reporters that flying was Nathalia’s “greatest passion.”
What Happened: The Crash of Learjet 60 N722BD
The Learjet 60, tail number N722BD, departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at approximately 9:37 a.m. Central Time (10:37 a.m. Eastern) on Sunday, November 1, 2026. The aircraft was a 2004-model Learjet 60 operated by Aurora Aviation, doing business as Upper Jets, under a Part 135 on-demand commercial certificate, according to reporting by KUT Austin.
The flight was bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. For roughly two hours, the flight proceeded without incident. At approximately 11:47 a.m. Central Time (12:47 p.m. Eastern), as the aircraft flew at 35,000 feet over South Florida, the crew radioed air traffic control to report weather difficulties. They described light, clear ice that was “manageable,” along with moderate turbulence and precipitation. The outside air temperature was approximately minus 47 degrees Celsius. The turbulence was causing altitude swings of roughly 700 feet.
The crew requested clearance to climb to 37,000 feet to get above the weather. Controllers approved the request. Less than 30 seconds later, instead of climbing, the aircraft began descending rapidly. The crew declared an emergency, followed quickly by a mayday. The pilot reported an overspeed condition and escalating descent rates: 8,000 feet per minute, then 10,000, then 20,000, then 22,000. Flightradar24 data later indicated the descent rate may have exceeded 32,000 feet per minute.
A female voice on the ATC recording, believed to be Filgueiras, said, “We’re going to crash into the ground.” Another voice said, “We’re out of time.” The entire emergency sequence lasted roughly 35 seconds.
The jet struck the ground nose-first at approximately 11:51 a.m. Central Time (12:51 p.m. Eastern) near Military Trail and 10th Avenue North in Greenacres, Palm Beach County, producing a massive fireball. Dashcam footage from nearby vehicles captured the jet plunging toward the ground and the explosion that followed. Video also showed the aircraft banking sharply right before impact. The crash left a crater in the roadway and scattered debris across a field approximately 1.2 miles long, according to Fox 13 News. Debris struck at least one home roughly 500 feet from the primary impact site.
Approximately 77 mobile homes were evacuated, and Palm Beach County Mayor Sara Baxter declared a county emergency. One man on the ground suffered a leg injury while driving away from the crash site. No other ground casualties were reported.
The NTSB Investigation and What Comes Next
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, with approximately 20 investigators assigned to the case and supported by the FAA.
NTSB member Tom Chapman confirmed early findings at a Monday news conference, stating there is “some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact.” Debris recovered at a distance from the primary crash site supports this assessment, suggesting structural failure may have occurred during the high-speed dive as aerodynamic forces exceeded the aircraft’s design limits.
Investigators are focused on several key areas. Weather, particularly icing, is a primary line of inquiry. Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo told the Associated Press that the combination of ice accumulation and turbulence could have caused an aerodynamic stall, a sudden loss of lift. The NTSB has also indicated uncertainty about whether the Learjet was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder, or whether such a device survived the crash. Recovery of major wreckage from the debris field is expected to be the investigation’s biggest logistical challenge.
The operator of the flight, Aurora Aviation doing business as Upper Jets, held a Part 135 on-demand commercial certificate. FAA records list the aircraft’s owner as a Delaware corporation, though the specific entity has not been publicly identified.
A final determination of probable cause from the NTSB typically takes 12 to 18 months. Formal identification of the victims may require DNA analysis, according to authorities.
A Legacy in Tech and a Family Remembered
Adam Robinson’s death sent ripples through the technology and startup communities. Larry Kim, CEO of CustomersAI and a well-known figure in the marketing technology space, wrote on X that he and Robinson had “butted heads” online over the years. But Kim called Robinson “a builder who pushed our whole category forward” and said competing with him was a privilege.
Robinson’s influence extended beyond his products. He was a visible, vocal advocate for a path that runs counter to Silicon Valley’s dominant narrative. While most tech founders chase venture capital and billion-dollar valuations, Robinson built profitable companies with small teams, shared his numbers openly, and told other founders they could do the same. His favorite quote, which he shared repeatedly, was: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.”
On the day of the crash, a LinkedIn post attributed to Robinson appeared on his profile, discussing RB2B and MoltSets. It was likely scheduled in advance. In it, he described his products as “stupid-simple PLG products” and acknowledged with characteristic bluntness that his companies were similar to each other.
The families of all nine victims have asked for privacy as they grieve. Memorial service details have not been announced.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Adam Robinson, the tech entrepreneur killed in the Florida Learjet crash?
Adam Robinson, 44, was a tech entrepreneur from Austin, Texas, who founded Retention.com, RB2B, and MoltSets. He graduated from Rice University and spent roughly a decade as a credit derivatives trader at Lehman Brothers before moving into technology. He bootstrapped Retention.com to $22 million in annual recurring revenue with just six employees and built RB2B to approximately $4 million ARR in its first eight months. He was killed along with eight others when a Learjet 60 crashed in Greenacres, Florida, on November 1, 2026.
Who were the nine victims of the Florida Learjet 60 crash?
The nine victims were passengers Adam Robinson (44), his wife Helen Sharp (40), their daughter Emma Robinson (4), their son Charlie Robinson (2), the family’s nanny Anita Maria Cetina, friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, pilot-in-command Jeff Gregory (55), and co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras (20). The families released a joint statement describing the children as “the light of their lives.”
What caused the Florida Learjet 60 crash on November 1, 2026?
The NTSB has not determined the official cause. The crew reported icing, moderate turbulence, and an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius before the aircraft entered a rapid, uncontrolled descent from 35,000 feet. The NTSB has said there is “some indication” the aircraft was breaking up before impact. A final probable cause determination is expected to take 12 to 18 months.
Who was Helen Sharp, Adam Robinson’s wife?
Helen Sharp, 40, was a ceramicist and public relations executive. She ran Helen Sharp Ceramics and was the CEO and founding partner of Influential PR. The couple had recently moved from Austin, Texas, to Aspen, Colorado, and had two children, Emma (4) and Charlie (2). Her father, Dudley Sharp, 70, confirmed the family’s presence on the flight to the Palm Beach Post.
What companies did Adam Robinson found?
Robinson founded four companies: Robly, an email marketing platform co-founded with his brother (sold to private equity for approximately $10 million); GetEmails, later renamed Retention.com, a website visitor identification tool ($22 million ARR); RB2B, a B2B visitor identification product (~$4 million ARR in 8 months); and MoltSets, a contact data API for AI agents launched in June 2026. All were bootstrapped without venture capital.
Who operated the Learjet 60 that crashed in Florida?
According to reporting by KUT Austin, the Learjet 60 (registration N722BD) was operated by Aurora Aviation, doing business as Upper Jets, under a Part 135 on-demand commercial certificate. FAA records list the aircraft’s owner as a Delaware corporation. The pilot-in-command was Jeff Gregory, 55, and the co-pilot was Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20.
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