Top Talent like Saif are on Pangea

Pangea, a YC company, connects companies with fractional talent. Fractional hiring allows companies to move faster and work with more specilaized talent, while giving talent more flexibilty and independence. If you are talent open to fractional work, apply here. If you’re a company looking for high-quality fractional talent, learn more here.

Saif Akhtar

Operations Manager • San Jose, CA, US
Python
Copy Editing
Copywriting
Management
Fundraising
Go-to-market Strategy
Marketing Strategy
Marketing Analytics
Marketing
Market Sizing
Market Research
Market Analysis
Discord
Slack
Asana
Salesforce
Sales Management
Sales Copy
Sales
Product Strategy
Product Marketing
Product Management
Product Development
Product Descriptions
Customer Service
Customer Relationship Management
Customer Experience
Customer Discovery
Analytics
Analytical Thinking
Customer Analytics
Operations Management
Wordpress
WooCommerce
JIRA
HubSpot
Webflow
Available for hire fromNegotiable
Contracts
0-1 builder and generalist with tons of pre-seed and seed product dev, sales, fundraising, and team-building experience.
Hello there! I'm Saif (pronounced "Seff"), an ex-VC & startup junkie with 12+ years of experience growing early-stage companies as a co-founder, founding employee (1exit), and VC (42 investments, 2 exits). My sweet spot is working with teams who need a generalist operator and integrator. I live in the Bay Area with my beautiful wife (BasmahMasood.com), nerd out over Star Wars EU books regularly, root for the 49ers/Sharks/Warriors/Giants/Pakistan cricket, and obsess over the newest tech and gadgets. You can learn more about me at https://saif-akhtar.webflow.io/

Projects

Co-Founder

Compass started off at AngelHack SV '14 as a quick and easy competitive analysis tool for digital marketers. We aggregate display ads across a variety of networks and offer them in a searchable database for digital marketers to learn about what copy, targeting and actions work for which industries. See More

People in Motion

People in Motion is an independent film aimed at showcasing the beautiful movements our bodies are capable of creating with Parkour. While I was involved right after production wrapped up, I was tasked with distributing PiM licenses to universities and colleges across the United States. See More

Work History

S

Co-Founder

Startupstudios.coMy consulting firm for part-time startup work. What I've been hired for: - Advise Founders and their core team through pre-seed, seed, and series-A challenges. - A fresh set of eyes for a new product, feature, pitch deck, or initiative. - Team-building & culture activities - Create go-to-market & growth strategies. - Develop fundraising docs & outreach systems. - Fix co-founder conflicts & cross-communication. - Build or manage teams for product dev, sales, marketing, and operations. - Redesign systems/processes or build them for scale. - Manage vendors & fractional resources towards a common goal. Companies I've worked with: - TheTalentGames.com - Fundraising Consultant - 6 months - Founderslist.com - Growth Consultant - 3 months - Lavashak.com - Growth Consultant - 6 months - DeltaLeafLabs.com - Growth Consultant - 3 months, then FT as COO for 15 mos. - Thrv.health - Growth Consultant - 3 months - Stealth startup - Product Advisor - Current
C

Chief of Staff

CresanceGenerative AI for cloud efficiency. Cresance is your singular cloud efficiency platform that will save you 20-80% on your cloud bills! Ask me how! Cresance is a StartX and Alchemist Accelerator company.
C

Community Manager

Cannabis Genome DAONov 2021 - Jul 2022 • 9 mos"AWS for Cannabis data", the Cannabis Genome DAO was created by Delta Leaf to incentivize participation in open-source cannabis genome research. Our primary means of accomplishing this are through the creation of a community-owned open-source data marketplace, open-access publication server and decentralized seed bank.
D

Co-Founder & COO

Delta Leaf LabsMar 2021 - Jul 2022 • 1 yr 5 mosPlant & cannabis genetic testing lab that worked with home growers & commercial growers to analyze their plant DNA. Our team made the kits ourselves, sold them DTC through our website, analyzed samples at our lab in Santa Barbara, and then uploaded results securely on Google Drive within 2-5 business days.
P

Chief of Operations

Planet N GrounMar 2016 - Jan 2020 • 3 yrs 11 mosPart of the Founding team for an Asia-focused venture capital fund, growing operations from scratch and investing in 42 pre-seed, seed, and series-A startups. I was responsible for collecting deal flow, portfolio governance, community programs, and supporting some of the region's best entrepreneurs!
1

Co-Founder & CEO

10xC Seed FundMar 2016 - Jan 2020 • 3 yrs 11 mosA seed fund & accelerator program aimed at investing early in Pakistan's youth making up 70% of the country's population. Each team received $10,000 to $25,000 as a first check, with 19 investments made between 2016 - 2019.
F

Community Lead

F50.ioJun 2015 - Jan 2020 • 4 yrs 8 mosIndependently ran the Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs Meetup group for 6 months, growing it to over 23,000 members by hosting weekly events in San Jose, Palo Alto, Oakland, and San Francisco. Also part of the organizing team for F50 and Google I/O's Funded! Conference at the San Francisco Convention Center hosting 1,200 attendees and 150 startups.
G

Co-Founder & COO

getCompass.coSep 2014 - Jan 2016 • 1 yr 5 mosBuilt a competitive intelligence tool at Angelhack 2014 to help digital marketers write better ads, like WhatRunsWhere but for social ads.
S

Director of Product

SmashonAug 2014 - Jan 2016 • 1 yr 6 mosLed the development of a social, local, and mobile health & wellness platform with angel funding, eventually closing partnerships with Safeway, Whole Foods and Genentech and growing to 30k MAU.
S

Co-Founder

SpartupsSep 2011 - Jan 2016 • 4 yrs 5 mosGrew a free Meetup group for student entrepreneurs into a 6,000 sq.ft incubator and accelerator program in downtown San Jose partnered with the City and San Jose State University. 22 graduates in our formal "accelerator program" with a few joining Y-Combinator and JFDI Asia.
O

Customer Success Manager

OrionCKBAug 2012 - Aug 2014 • 2 yrs 1 moEmployee #1 at a performance marketing agency where I managed eight-figure social campaigns for brands like The Body Shop, Palo Alto Networks, Quixey, Viggle, Beepi, Wargaming America, and many more. Acquired by Tinuiti/EliteSEM in 2016.
P

Co-Founder & COO

PinfluenceJun 2011 - Aug 2012 • 1 yr 3 mosBuilt a SaaS for large brands to manage their Pinterest communities, eventually growing the boards for Victoria's Secret, Best Buy, and Conde Nast Group by millions of followers.
N

Generalist

NerditoriumDec 2010 - Jun 2011 • 7 mosHacker house where I lived with 6 other entrepreneurs building ideas into prototypes, including a smartphone intervalometer, podcast app, and an independent movie about parkour called "People in Motion".

Education

San Jose State University

Bachelor's Degree, Mechanical Engineering Aug 2005 - Jun 2011

How Pangea Works

Effortlessly discover top talent

We’ve distilled the candidate search from endless hours down to just a few minutes. Using Pangea’s AI-powered search tools, you can find top fractional talent able to take on your next project. Our system looks at your company’s niche and your needs to find the perfect match faster than any traditional hiring platform.

Start working with talent today

The top talent on Pangea is ready to get started with you right now. You can message or hire a candidate right from their profile page and start assigning work as soon as they respond. And the best part? Pangea’s fractional contract structure lets you start small and ramp up as your needs change, keeping your costs manageable and your team’s capabliities flexible.

Track work and invoices in one place

Assign tasks, track progress, and complete invoices all on Pangea. We’ve combined every part of the hiring process into one platform to eliminate the miscommunication that’s unavoidable on other freelance platforms. We even send out 1099s to your contractors at the end of the year!

Talk with a Talent Expert

Members of our team are available to help you speed through the hiring process.
Available Now
Book a Call
0-1 builder and generalist with tons of pre-seed and seed product dev, sales, fundraising, and team-building experience.
Hello there! I'm Saif (pronounced "Seff"), an ex-VC & startup junkie with 12+ years of experience growing early-stage companies as a co-founder, founding employee (1exit), and VC (42 investments, 2 exits). My sweet spot is working with teams who need a generalist operator and integrator. I live in the Bay Area with my beautiful wife (BasmahMasood.com), nerd out over Star Wars EU books regularly, root for the 49ers/Sharks/Warriors/Giants/Pakistan cricket, and obsess over the newest tech and gadgets. You can learn more about me at https://saif-akhtar.webflow.io/

Talk with a Talent Expert

Members of our team are available to help you speed through the hiring process.
Available Now
Book a Call

Top Talent like Saif are on Pangea

Pangea, a YC company, connects companies with fractional talent. Fractional hiring allows companies to move faster and work with more specilaized talent, while giving talent more flexibilty and independence. If you are talent open to fractional work, apply here. If you’re a company looking for high-quality fractional talent, learn more here.

Saif Akhtar

Operations Manager • San Jose, CA, US
Python
Copy Editing
Copywriting
Management
Fundraising
Go-to-market Strategy
Marketing Strategy
Marketing Analytics
Marketing
Market Sizing
Market Research
Market Analysis
Discord
Slack
Asana
Salesforce
Sales Management
Sales Copy
Sales
Product Strategy
Product Marketing
Product Management
Product Development
Product Descriptions
Customer Service
Customer Relationship Management
Customer Experience
Customer Discovery
Analytics
Analytical Thinking
Customer Analytics
Operations Management
Wordpress
WooCommerce
JIRA
HubSpot
Webflow
Available for hire fromNegotiable
Contracts

Projects

Co-Founder

Compass started off at AngelHack SV '14 as a quick and easy competitive analysis tool for digital marketers. We aggregate display ads across a variety of networks and offer them in a searchable database for digital marketers to learn about what copy, targeting and actions work for which industries.

People in Motion

People in Motion is an independent film aimed at showcasing the beautiful movements our bodies are capable of creating with Parkour. While I was involved right after production wrapped up, I was tasked with distributing PiM licenses to universities and colleges across the United States.

Work History

S

Co-Founder

Startupstudios.coMy consulting firm for part-time startup work. What I've been hired for: - Advise Founders and their core team through pre-seed, seed, and series-A challenges. - A fresh set of eyes for a new product, feature, pitch deck, or initiative. - Team-building & culture activities - Create go-to-market & growth strategies. - Develop fundraising docs & outreach systems. - Fix co-founder conflicts & cross-communication. - Build or manage teams for product dev, sales, marketing, and operations. - Redesign systems/processes or build them for scale. - Manage vendors & fractional resources towards a common goal. Companies I've worked with: - TheTalentGames.com - Fundraising Consultant - 6 months - Founderslist.com - Growth Consultant - 3 months - Lavashak.com - Growth Consultant - 6 months - DeltaLeafLabs.com - Growth Consultant - 3 months, then FT as COO for 15 mos. - Thrv.health - Growth Consultant - 3 months - Stealth startup - Product Advisor - Current
C

Chief of Staff

CresanceGenerative AI for cloud efficiency. Cresance is your singular cloud efficiency platform that will save you 20-80% on your cloud bills! Ask me how! Cresance is a StartX and Alchemist Accelerator company.
C

Community Manager

Cannabis Genome DAONov 2021 - Jul 2022 • 9 mos"AWS for Cannabis data", the Cannabis Genome DAO was created by Delta Leaf to incentivize participation in open-source cannabis genome research. Our primary means of accomplishing this are through the creation of a community-owned open-source data marketplace, open-access publication server and decentralized seed bank.
D

Co-Founder & COO

Delta Leaf LabsMar 2021 - Jul 2022 • 1 yr 5 mosPlant & cannabis genetic testing lab that worked with home growers & commercial growers to analyze their plant DNA. Our team made the kits ourselves, sold them DTC through our website, analyzed samples at our lab in Santa Barbara, and then uploaded results securely on Google Drive within 2-5 business days.
P

Chief of Operations

Planet N GrounMar 2016 - Jan 2020 • 3 yrs 11 mosPart of the Founding team for an Asia-focused venture capital fund, growing operations from scratch and investing in 42 pre-seed, seed, and series-A startups. I was responsible for collecting deal flow, portfolio governance, community programs, and supporting some of the region's best entrepreneurs!
1

Co-Founder & CEO

10xC Seed FundMar 2016 - Jan 2020 • 3 yrs 11 mosA seed fund & accelerator program aimed at investing early in Pakistan's youth making up 70% of the country's population. Each team received $10,000 to $25,000 as a first check, with 19 investments made between 2016 - 2019.
F

Community Lead

F50.ioJun 2015 - Jan 2020 • 4 yrs 8 mosIndependently ran the Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs Meetup group for 6 months, growing it to over 23,000 members by hosting weekly events in San Jose, Palo Alto, Oakland, and San Francisco. Also part of the organizing team for F50 and Google I/O's Funded! Conference at the San Francisco Convention Center hosting 1,200 attendees and 150 startups.
G

Co-Founder & COO

getCompass.coSep 2014 - Jan 2016 • 1 yr 5 mosBuilt a competitive intelligence tool at Angelhack 2014 to help digital marketers write better ads, like WhatRunsWhere but for social ads.
S

Director of Product

SmashonAug 2014 - Jan 2016 • 1 yr 6 mosLed the development of a social, local, and mobile health & wellness platform with angel funding, eventually closing partnerships with Safeway, Whole Foods and Genentech and growing to 30k MAU.
S

Co-Founder

SpartupsSep 2011 - Jan 2016 • 4 yrs 5 mosGrew a free Meetup group for student entrepreneurs into a 6,000 sq.ft incubator and accelerator program in downtown San Jose partnered with the City and San Jose State University. 22 graduates in our formal "accelerator program" with a few joining Y-Combinator and JFDI Asia.
O

Customer Success Manager

OrionCKBAug 2012 - Aug 2014 • 2 yrs 1 moEmployee #1 at a performance marketing agency where I managed eight-figure social campaigns for brands like The Body Shop, Palo Alto Networks, Quixey, Viggle, Beepi, Wargaming America, and many more. Acquired by Tinuiti/EliteSEM in 2016.
P

Co-Founder & COO

PinfluenceJun 2011 - Aug 2012 • 1 yr 3 mosBuilt a SaaS for large brands to manage their Pinterest communities, eventually growing the boards for Victoria's Secret, Best Buy, and Conde Nast Group by millions of followers.
N

Generalist

NerditoriumDec 2010 - Jun 2011 • 7 mosHacker house where I lived with 6 other entrepreneurs building ideas into prototypes, including a smartphone intervalometer, podcast app, and an independent movie about parkour called "People in Motion".

Education

San Jose State University

Bachelor's Degree, Mechanical Engineering Aug 2005 - Jun 2011

How Pangea Works

Effortlessly discover top talent

We’ve distilled the candidate search from endless hours down to just a few minutes. Using Pangea’s AI-powered search tools, you can find top fractional talent able to take on your next project. Our system looks at your company’s niche and your needs to find the perfect match faster than any traditional hiring platform.

Start working with talent today

The top talent on Pangea is ready to get started with you right now. You can message or hire a candidate right from their profile page and start assigning work as soon as they respond. And the best part? Pangea’s fractional contract structure lets you start small and ramp up as your needs change, keeping your costs manageable and your team’s capabliities flexible.

Track work and invoices in one place

Assign tasks, track progress, and complete invoices all on Pangea. We’ve combined every part of the hiring process into one platform to eliminate the miscommunication that’s unavoidable on other freelance platforms. We even send out 1099s to your contractors at the end of the year!

Talk with a Talent Expert

Members of our team are available to help you speed through the hiring process.
Available Now
Book a Call
Pangea empowers fractional work across the world for marketing and design roles.