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 specialized talent, while giving talent more flexibility 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

Sales & Business Development Manager
Full-stack Engineer
Operations Manager
San Jose, CA, US
Operations Management
Full Stack Development
Sales
Available for hire fromNegotiable
Contracts
Fractional COO & RevOps Executive | AI-First Operator | Bay Area
Mechanical engineer turned revenue executive with 15+ years scaling startups, PE portfolios, and software agencies across the Bay Area and Asia. I build the revenue systems that make companies run — automated outbound pipelines, CRM-to-close workflows, partner operations, and AI-orchestrated GTM engines. Currently: Co-founder & COO at Horizon-Labs.co (AI-native software agency), and co-Founder & COO at SimplyHRA (ICHRA health benefits platform). Fractional GTM clients since 2019 have included PolymerSearch, Nostra.ai, FlairLabs (YC S22), DeltaLeafLabs.com, Avocore.com, and TheTalentGames.com. I've also built "Brain" — a 27-agent autonomous AI operating system that runs 17,500+ tasks/quarter across 5 business entities with zero manual intervention. It's currently powered by 8 different LLMs and an upgrade over Openclaw and Hermes. Open to fractional or part-time RevOps, GTM, and COO roles in the Bay Area.

Projects

Agency Brain - Autonomous AI Operating System

Built a 27-agent autonomous AI operating system running 17,500+ tasks/quarter across 5 business entities — zero manual intervention. Agents handle lead scoring, email triage, outbound messaging, scheduling, and content. Stack: FastAPI, Supabase, APScheduler, OpenAI, Openclaw, Hermes. See More

StartupStudios.co - Podcast for early stage founders

A 2-hour per episode podcast with 15 episodes live where I would invite friends of mine across the startup ecosystem to share their stories and work with pre-seed, seed, and series-a companies. See More

Pinfluence - Pinterest Analytics Dashboard

Co-founded a Pinterest SaaS platform that managed millions of followers for enterprise brands including Victoria's Secret, Best Buy, and Condé Nast Magazine. Built follower growth, pin scheduling, and analytics tools at a time when Pinterest was the fastest-growing social network.See More

GetCompass - Ad Intelligence Dashboard

Built a Facebook ad spy and competitive intelligence tool that helped performance marketers reverse-engineer winning ad strategies. Leveraged firsthand experience managing $100K+/mo in Facebook ad spend for clients including Palo Alto Networks and The Body Shop.See More

Smashon - Yelp for Health & Wellness

Co-founded a B2C health and wellness platform focused on fitness tracking, goal-setting, and habit formation. Built product from 0 to 1 including onboarding flows, retention mechanics, and growth loops for a consumer audience.See More

Startup Spaces - Startup media platform

Built a media and community platform for Pakistan's startup ecosystem — aggregating fragmented local startup events, recorded panels, and founder content in one place. Features included event discovery and registration, video library, startup deals/perks, and a unified application portal for local incubators, accelerators, and early-stage VC firms.See More

FillUp.pk - On-demand petrol or diesel to you

Built and personally operated an MVP for on-demand fuel delivery — sourcing from local gas stations and delivering direct to customers' locations. Completed ~300 deliveries, validating demand for last-mile fuel logistics in urban Pakistan.See More

Work History

H

Co-Founder / COO

Horizon LabsFull-time EmployeeLead a 30+ engineer AI-native software agency delivering MVPs, marketplace builds, and AI integrations. Preferred devshop for Y-Combinator. Built sales pipeline to $35K avg MRR.
S

Co-Founder & COO

SimplyHRAFull-time EmployeeCo-founded an ACA-compliant ICHRA health benefits platform priced 40–60% below market ($29/employee vs. $55–$85 competitors). Built end-to-end product and revenue stack: employer onboarding, subscription management, healthcare enrollment, benefits management, and ACA reporting via APIs — reducing admin and customer success time by 70%.
I

VP of Operations - Founding Team

Intellus.aiFull-time EmployeeNov 2022 - Nov 2025 • 3 yrs 1 moPart of founding team building AI tools to cut enterprise AI, cloud & SaaS costs by >20% in 30 days. Designed operational playbooks and enterprise onboarding frameworks. Raised $350,000 from AWS and part of Stanford's StartX and Alchemist Accelerator.
P

Chief of Operations

Planet N GroupFull-time EmployeeMar 2016 - Nov 2019 • 3 yrs 9 mosRaised and managed a $7M PE portfolio (42 investments in fintech, healthtech, AI, e-commerce); grew collective value past $50M in 3 years. Co-founded 10xC.pk — Pakistan's first tech accelerator, 19 portfolio companies each receiving $10k-$25k pre-seed checks.
O

Product Manager

OrionCKB (acquired by Tinuiti)Aug 2012 - Aug 2014 • 2 yrs 1 moManaged $100K+/mo Facebook ad spend for clients including Palo Alto Networks, Thumbtack and The Body Shop. Scaled AUM from $0 → $40M in 2 years as employee #1.
S

Founder - Fractional GTM & RevOps Consulting

StartupStudios.coFull-time EmployeeNov 2019 - May 2023 • 3 yrs 7 mosRan a boutique fractional consulting practice for early-stage founders across GTM strategy, product ops, RevOps, and customer success. Clients included Delta Leaf Labs, Thrv.health, Founderslist.com, and TheTalentGames. Merged operations into Horizon Labs in 2023.
S

Co-Founder & CEO

Spartups AcceleratorOct 2010 - Dec 2015 • 5 yrs 3 mosGrew a weekly meetup into a 6,000 sq ft startup incubator in San Jose. 22 graduates including YC and 500 Startups alumni. Won partnerships with Google, AWS, Microsoft, SJSU, and the City of San Jose.
F

Community Director

F50.io / SV EntrepreneursContract EmployeeSep 2014 - Dec 2015 • 1 yr 4 mosGrew the Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs community to 23,000+ members. Produced the Funded! conference at Google I/O — 1,200 attendees with $50M+ invested on stage.

Education

S

San Jose State University

BS, Mechanical Engineering2005 - 2011
F

Foundation Public School - Karachi, Pakistan

High School, A Levels - GCSE1994 - 2005

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
Fractional COO & RevOps Executive | AI-First Operator | Bay Area
Mechanical engineer turned revenue executive with 15+ years scaling startups, PE portfolios, and software agencies across the Bay Area and Asia. I build the revenue systems that make companies run — automated outbound pipelines, CRM-to-close workflows, partner operations, and AI-orchestrated GTM engines. Currently: Co-founder & COO at Horizon-Labs.co (AI-native software agency), and co-Founder & COO at SimplyHRA (ICHRA health benefits platform). Fractional GTM clients since 2019 have included PolymerSearch, Nostra.ai, FlairLabs (YC S22), DeltaLeafLabs.com, Avocore.com, and TheTalentGames.com. I've also built "Brain" — a 27-agent autonomous AI operating system that runs 17,500+ tasks/quarter across 5 business entities with zero manual intervention. It's currently powered by 8 different LLMs and an upgrade over Openclaw and Hermes. Open to fractional or part-time RevOps, GTM, and COO roles in the Bay Area.

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 specialized talent, while giving talent more flexibility 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

Sales & Business Development Manager
Full-stack Engineer
Operations Manager
San Jose, CA, US
Operations Management
Full Stack Development
Sales
Available for hire fromNegotiable
Contracts

Projects

Agency Brain - Autonomous AI Operating System

Built a 27-agent autonomous AI operating system running 17,500+ tasks/quarter across 5 business entities — zero manual intervention. Agents handle lead scoring, email triage, outbound messaging, scheduling, and content. Stack: FastAPI, Supabase, APScheduler, OpenAI, Openclaw, Hermes.

StartupStudios.co - Podcast for early stage founders

A 2-hour per episode podcast with 15 episodes live where I would invite friends of mine across the startup ecosystem to share their stories and work with pre-seed, seed, and series-a companies.

Pinfluence - Pinterest Analytics Dashboard

Co-founded a Pinterest SaaS platform that managed millions of followers for enterprise brands including Victoria's Secret, Best Buy, and Condé Nast Magazine. Built follower growth, pin scheduling, and analytics tools at a time when Pinterest was the fastest-growing social network.

GetCompass - Ad Intelligence Dashboard

Built a Facebook ad spy and competitive intelligence tool that helped performance marketers reverse-engineer winning ad strategies. Leveraged firsthand experience managing $100K+/mo in Facebook ad spend for clients including Palo Alto Networks and The Body Shop.

Smashon - Yelp for Health & Wellness

Co-founded a B2C health and wellness platform focused on fitness tracking, goal-setting, and habit formation. Built product from 0 to 1 including onboarding flows, retention mechanics, and growth loops for a consumer audience.

Startup Spaces - Startup media platform

Built a media and community platform for Pakistan's startup ecosystem — aggregating fragmented local startup events, recorded panels, and founder content in one place. Features included event discovery and registration, video library, startup deals/perks, and a unified application portal for local incubators, accelerators, and early-stage VC firms.

FillUp.pk - On-demand petrol or diesel to you

Built and personally operated an MVP for on-demand fuel delivery — sourcing from local gas stations and delivering direct to customers' locations. Completed ~300 deliveries, validating demand for last-mile fuel logistics in urban Pakistan.

Work History

H

Co-Founder / COO

Horizon LabsFull-time EmployeeLead a 30+ engineer AI-native software agency delivering MVPs, marketplace builds, and AI integrations. Preferred devshop for Y-Combinator. Built sales pipeline to $35K avg MRR.
S

Co-Founder & COO

SimplyHRAFull-time EmployeeCo-founded an ACA-compliant ICHRA health benefits platform priced 40–60% below market ($29/employee vs. $55–$85 competitors). Built end-to-end product and revenue stack: employer onboarding, subscription management, healthcare enrollment, benefits management, and ACA reporting via APIs — reducing admin and customer success time by 70%.
I

VP of Operations - Founding Team

Intellus.aiFull-time EmployeeNov 2022 - Nov 2025 • 3 yrs 1 moPart of founding team building AI tools to cut enterprise AI, cloud & SaaS costs by >20% in 30 days. Designed operational playbooks and enterprise onboarding frameworks. Raised $350,000 from AWS and part of Stanford's StartX and Alchemist Accelerator.
P

Chief of Operations

Planet N GroupFull-time EmployeeMar 2016 - Nov 2019 • 3 yrs 9 mosRaised and managed a $7M PE portfolio (42 investments in fintech, healthtech, AI, e-commerce); grew collective value past $50M in 3 years. Co-founded 10xC.pk — Pakistan's first tech accelerator, 19 portfolio companies each receiving $10k-$25k pre-seed checks.
O

Product Manager

OrionCKB (acquired by Tinuiti)Aug 2012 - Aug 2014 • 2 yrs 1 moManaged $100K+/mo Facebook ad spend for clients including Palo Alto Networks, Thumbtack and The Body Shop. Scaled AUM from $0 → $40M in 2 years as employee #1.
S

Founder - Fractional GTM & RevOps Consulting

StartupStudios.coFull-time EmployeeNov 2019 - May 2023 • 3 yrs 7 mosRan a boutique fractional consulting practice for early-stage founders across GTM strategy, product ops, RevOps, and customer success. Clients included Delta Leaf Labs, Thrv.health, Founderslist.com, and TheTalentGames. Merged operations into Horizon Labs in 2023.
S

Co-Founder & CEO

Spartups AcceleratorOct 2010 - Dec 2015 • 5 yrs 3 mosGrew a weekly meetup into a 6,000 sq ft startup incubator in San Jose. 22 graduates including YC and 500 Startups alumni. Won partnerships with Google, AWS, Microsoft, SJSU, and the City of San Jose.
F

Community Director

F50.io / SV EntrepreneursContract EmployeeSep 2014 - Dec 2015 • 1 yr 4 mosGrew the Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs community to 23,000+ members. Produced the Funded! conference at Google I/O — 1,200 attendees with $50M+ invested on stage.

Education

S

San Jose State University

BS, Mechanical Engineering2005 - 2011
F

Foundation Public School - Karachi, Pakistan

High School, A Levels - GCSE1994 - 2005

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.