StartupStudios.co
Founder
Saif Akhtar (He/Him)
I build the revenue systems that make startups and small businesses scale. Fractional COO and Revops executive with 15+ years of experience.
I build the revenue systems that make startups and small businesses scale. Fractional COO and Revops executive with 15+ years of experience.
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Experience
FillUp Technologies
Founder
Advisor
Advisor
Bounce
Advisor
HealthDonor
Advisor
![QMi Systems [Inactive]](/cdn-cgi/image/width=60,height=60,format=auto,fit=scale-down/https://photos.wellfound.com/startups/i/222899-eaacaf725cde22200839c019d3681c21-medium_jpg.jpg?buster=1371173665)
QMi Systems [Inactive]
Advisor
Chompus
Advisor
PowerCube
Advisor
PostCaptain
Advisor
Kick The List
Advisor
Board Member
SimplyHRA
Co-founder & COO
ACA-compliant ICHRA health benefits platform priced 40–60% below market ($29/employee vs. $55–$85 competitors). ICP: small employers with 2–49 employees replacing group plans.
-... more Architected full product and revenue stack: employer onboarding, subscription management, healthcare enrollment, and ACA reporting through APIs and workflow automations.
- Reduced employer admin and customer success time by 70%.
-... more Architected full product and revenue stack: employer onboarding, subscription management, healthcare enrollment, and ACA reporting through APIs and workflow automations.
- Reduced employer admin and customer success time by 70%.
Horizon-Labs.co
Co-founder & COO
AI-native software agency delivering MVPs, marketplace builds, and AI integrations for YC-backed founders and SMBs.
- Run a 30-person US + Turkey engineering team;... more built sales pipeline to $35K avg MRR in 2024 and 2025.
- Built "Brain" — a 27-agent autonomous AI OS (FastAPI, Supabase, OpenAI) processing 17,500+ tasks/quarter across 5 business entities with zero manual intervention.
- Fractional GTM lead for PolymerSearch (16 mo), Nostra.ai (12 mo), FlairLabs.ai (YC S22), and Avocore.com.
- Run a 30-person US + Turkey engineering team;... more built sales pipeline to $35K avg MRR in 2024 and 2025.
- Built "Brain" — a 27-agent autonomous AI OS (FastAPI, Supabase, OpenAI) processing 17,500+ tasks/quarter across 5 business entities with zero manual intervention.
- Fractional GTM lead for PolymerSearch (16 mo), Nostra.ai (12 mo), FlairLabs.ai (YC S22), and Avocore.com.
Intellus AI
VP of Operations
AI inference and cloud cost optimization startup, formerly known as Cresance.com. Backed by AWS ($350K pre-seed). StartX and Alchemist Accelerator alumni.
- Co-built... more AI tooling to cut enterprise cloud & SaaS costs by >20% in 30 days; designed operational playbooks and onboarding frameworks for Fortune 500 deployments.
- Owned GTM operations and enterprise customer success: built discovery-to-pilot playbook, led first 10 customer onboardings, and supported fundraising narrative that secured $350K from AWS.
- Co-built... more AI tooling to cut enterprise cloud & SaaS costs by >20% in 30 days; designed operational playbooks and onboarding frameworks for Fortune 500 deployments.
- Owned GTM operations and enterprise customer success: built discovery-to-pilot playbook, led first 10 customer onboardings, and supported fundraising narrative that secured $350K from AWS.
StartupStudios.co
Founder - Fractional GTM & RevOps Consulting
Boutique fractional consulting practice for early-stage founders — merged into Horizon Labs in 2023.
- Provided fractional GTM strategy, product ops, RevOps, and customer... more success for 12+ startups across healthtech, B2B SaaS, and consumer.
- Clients: Delta Leaf Labs, Thrv.health, Founderslist.com, TheTalentGames, Lavashak.com.
- Maintained a vetted network of 40+ fractional specialists; matched domain experts in product, engineering, and growth for founders from pre-seed through Series A.
- Provided fractional GTM strategy, product ops, RevOps, and customer... more success for 12+ startups across healthtech, B2B SaaS, and consumer.
- Clients: Delta Leaf Labs, Thrv.health, Founderslist.com, TheTalentGames, Lavashak.com.
- Maintained a vetted network of 40+ fractional specialists; matched domain experts in product, engineering, and growth for founders from pre-seed through Series A.
Delta Leaf Laboratories
Co-Founder & COO
Cannabis biotech democratizing access to genetic testing for home and commercial growers. DTC lab kits with 2-5 day turnaround.
- Joined as growth consultant in 2021;... more boosted monthly revenue from $7K to $30K before joining full-time as COO.
- Revamped lab operations and customer experience through SOPs, workflow automation, and gamification.
- Negotiated partnerships with tech, legal, financial, and marketing service providers to scale operations.
- Joined as growth consultant in 2021;... more boosted monthly revenue from $7K to $30K before joining full-time as COO.
- Revamped lab operations and customer experience through SOPs, workflow automation, and gamification.
- Negotiated partnerships with tech, legal, financial, and marketing service providers to scale operations.
Planet N Group
COO
Asia-focused PE fund investing in pre-seed through Series A startups across Pakistan, UAE, and Singapore.
- Managed a $7M portfolio of 42 investments across fintech,... more healthtech, AI, and e-commerce; reviewed 5,000+ proposals with a 15-person team across four cities.
- Grew collective portfolio value past $50M with co-investors including Omidyar Network, Accion, and Daman Investments.
- Managed a $7M portfolio of 42 investments across fintech,... more healthtech, AI, and e-commerce; reviewed 5,000+ proposals with a 15-person team across four cities.
- Grew collective portfolio value past $50M with co-investors including Omidyar Network, Accion, and Daman Investments.
Community Lead
Independently ran the Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs Meetup group, growing it to 23,000+ members through weekly events across San Jose, Palo Alto, Oakland, and San Francisco.
-... more Part of the organizing team for F50 and Google I/O's Funded! Conference — 1,200 attendees, 150 startups, $50M+ invested on stage.
-... more Part of the organizing team for F50 and Google I/O's Funded! Conference — 1,200 attendees, 150 startups, $50M+ invested on stage.
Smashon
Director of Product
Marketplace app to find local health and wellness services — a Nextdoor-style platform with angel funding.
- Led product and growth; reached 30K MAU in under 12 months... more with remote teams in the US and India.
- Secured partnerships with Safeway, Whole Foods, and Genentech to bring health & wellness activities to 50K+ Bay Area residents.
- Led product and growth; reached 30K MAU in under 12 months... more with remote teams in the US and India.
- Secured partnerships with Safeway, Whole Foods, and Genentech to bring health & wellness activities to 50K+ Bay Area residents.
getCompass
Co-Founder & COO
Competitive intelligence tool for performance marketers to analyze competitor ads — built at AngelHack 2014, placed 5th out of hundreds.
- Scaled from $0 to $25K MRR... more in first year with a team of three.
- Key customers included Snap, HelloSign, KeepTrucking, and Quixey.
- Scaled from $0 to $25K MRR... more in first year with a team of three.
- Key customers included Snap, HelloSign, KeepTrucking, and Quixey.
Co-founder & CEO
Startup accelerator and incubation center for founders in San Jose, built in partnership with the City of San Jose and SJSU.
- Grew a free Meetup group into a 6,000... more sq ft incubator; 22 graduates including Copia (YC W16) and Qwikwire (JFDI Asia).
- Secured six-figure partnerships with AWS, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Rackspace.
- Grew a free Meetup group into a 6,000... more sq ft incubator; 22 graduates including Copia (YC W16) and Qwikwire (JFDI Asia).
- Secured six-figure partnerships with AWS, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Rackspace.
OrionCKB
Ad Operations - Employee #1
Performance marketing agency for social ads — acquired by EliteSEM (now Tinuiti) in 2016.
- First hire; helped grow agency from 2 to 30 employees before acquisition.... more Managed $100K+/mo in Facebook ad spend with 80% client retention.
- Clients: The Body Shop, Palo Alto Networks, Thumbtack, GoodRx, Quixey, Beepi, Wargaming America.
- First hire; helped grow agency from 2 to 30 employees before acquisition.... more Managed $100K+/mo in Facebook ad spend with 80% client retention.
- Clients: The Body Shop, Palo Alto Networks, Thumbtack, GoodRx, Quixey, Beepi, Wargaming America.
Pinfluence
Co-founder & COO
SaaS platform enabling enterprise brands to manage and grow their Pinterest presence — raised six-figure angel investment.
- Tripled follower counts for Victoria's... more Secret, Best Buy, and Condé Nast Group within months of launch.
- Built a distributed team of 8 engineers and designers across Eastern Europe and India in under two months.
- Tripled follower counts for Victoria's... more Secret, Best Buy, and Condé Nast Group within months of launch.
- Built a distributed team of 8 engineers and designers across Eastern Europe and India in under two months.
Nerd Tribe
Generalist
Hacker house and art/tech incubator in Austin, TX — lived and built with 6 other entrepreneurs turning ideas into prototypes.
- Built a smartphone adapter for amateur... more photographers to create time-lapse videos without a DSLR.
- Converted 350+ episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience into a searchable knowledgebase called "Podly."
- Managed distribution for "People in Motion" — an independent film shot in-house showcasing parkour.
- Built a smartphone adapter for amateur... more photographers to create time-lapse videos without a DSLR.
- Converted 350+ episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience into a searchable knowledgebase called "Podly."
- Managed distribution for "People in Motion" — an independent film shot in-house showcasing parkour.
Founder
Employee
Advisor
Board Member
Education
About
Achievements
- Married the love of my life.
- Grew a grassroots entrepreneurship meetup into a grant-funded incubation center for my alma mater SJSU and then city of San Jose, resulting in incubatees participating in 500 Startups, Y-Combinator and JFDI Asia.
- Got to be on the organizing team for Google i/o 2015 as a consultant for F50.io.
- Assisted various startups close pre-seed, seed & series A rounds in Silicon Valley, Singapore, and Pakistan.
- Ran Facebook campaigns for enterprise customers (TheBodyShop, Palo Alto Networks, Wargaming America) and tech unicorns (Quixey, Beepi, Thumbtack).
- Created the first and only accelerator that provides pre-seed funding in Pakistan.
- Was on the founding team of one of Pakistan's first VC firms.
Skills
Locations
Q&A
What's the most useful business-related book you've ever read?
Who's To Say?: A Dialogue on Relativism by Norman Melchert
What's your favorite non-business book?
Star Wars Legends, the entire X-Wing series
If money were not an issue, what would you be doing right now?
I'd be doing the same thing!
What words of advice would you give your younger self?
Don't forget to have fun!
What's your super power?
Persistence
What's the best way for people to get in touch with you?
What words of wisdom do you live by?
The meaning of life... is to live!
What aspects of your work are you most passionate about?
The relationships
What's something you wish you had done years earlier?
Learned a martial art
What's an obstacle you've overcome?
Racism
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