Founder & CEO of Stealth Startup
I’m Zain Jaffer. After selling Vungle for $780M, I shifted from founder life to investing with Zain Ventures—focusing on PropTech, real estate, crypto, and ventures that align with values. This blog is where I share leadership lessons, investment thinking, and the small “aha” moments that spark change.
Wow, I know so many people who went from being worth $100M+ to broke overnight due to Anthropic invalidating their…
I’m on my phone before bed and first thing in the morning. I used to feel guilty about it but…
I told my mum that we hit $1M ARR recently. She innocently asks me what ARR means. She barely has…
Your startup is not safe if you are in the AI Application Layer, which is 99% of Founders. Mistral launching…
Content Writers are not getting replaced by AI. The language of AI is so abstract it’s now written in plain…
We just hit $1M ARR in our first 7 months. So why do I feel so sh*t? It’s a rite…
Our 16-person startup is now homeless. We just got evicted from our Industrious office space after our CMO pulled some…
YC is backing founders who are barely out of their diapers and love to brag about working 9-9-6. I turned…
At the risk of sounding insane, Google’s new Project Genie has me convinced that we are living in a simulated…
I’ve never brought on an advisor for equity. I’ve also been an advisor many times and regret it. The disconnect…
I am against hiring Product Managers in startups. Product should be the responsibility of the Founders, preferably the CEO. At…
When I raised Vungle’s $17M Series B, I literally sent a term sheet to VCs with just two blanks: Amount…
A tip for founders: always maintain a data room that’s in immaculate condition. Otherwise you will 100% scramble when you…
Some of my startup investments have been stuck for a few years at less than one million dollars in annual…
I now weigh 200 pounds, thanks to the startup lifestyle of 9-9-6, working from 9 am to 9 pm, 6…
The speed at which a startup fixes its website bugs tells you everything you need to know about its potential…
After months of nomadic work life, our stealth AI startup has finally taken a significant step forward. We have moved…
Some founders are in the dark about how much money they’re spending each month, and it’s a major problem. I’m…