Founded by best friends Rob (founding engineer at Substack) and Ben (early engineer at Stripe). We're based in Brooklyn and San Francisco.
Co-founders Rob & Ben met in 2013 on the early Venmo team. Rob went on to become the founding engineer at Substack. Ben spent nearly a decade at Stripe. Read our mission.
Ben, Rob, Danny, and Shreyans meet on the Venmo team
Ben joins Stripe
Rob builds Substack
Rob & Ben start building Zo
President, Cofounder
Brooklyn
I met Rob, Danny, and Shreyans in 2013 on the early Venmo team, and then joined Stripe in 2015 as one of the first 80 or so engineers. I liked it a lot so I stayed there until 2023. I like music, computers, and computer music.
Check out what I'm listening to on Spotify, browse my favorite links, book time with me, and more.
CEO, Cofounder
Brooklyn
I'm one of the cofounders at Zo. Previously founding eng @ Substack, Fin, early team at Venmo.
My space has a devlog of things I'm doing with my Zo, a pegasus pet, and a way to leave me messages.
CTO
SF
I was an early engineer at Venmo and have since worked as an engineering leader at Fin, Triplebyte, and Uber Eats. I live in San Francisco and have two young kids who take up most of my time these days, but when I do have free time I enjoy snowboarding and playing music.
A directory of things that I'm thinking about and things I've made.
Engineering
Brooklyn
I'm just a guy. Big Hatsune Miku fan. Before joining Zo, I've spent time in health tech at Culmination Bio, trust and safety at Spectrum Labs (acq. by Alice), and the cloud gaming and Facebook Dating teams at Meta. I'm motivated by strong missions and building things to help real people. Outside of work, I enjoy dancing (hip-hop and k-pop), sewing, and eating a lot of great food.
Originally a port from my new grad personal site, now kintsugi-inspired; gold lines are randomly generated on each page and break up the text.
Engineering
DC
There's bottom up and top down ways of humanizing computers, and I've tried a little of both. I taught people computer, now I'm back to trying to make computer better.
carcinization of the pegasus
Engineering
Brooklyn
First engineer at Venmo. Cofounded Socratic (acq. Google) with Chris Pedregal (Granola CEO). Cofounder & CTO at Maven.
Experimenting with games
Engineering
Brooklyn, NY
Engineering
San Francisco Bay Area
Growth
Brooklyn
Obsessed with the internet & builders. My mantra: work harder.
My Zo Space is my personal corner of the internet. I use it to host my blog, visualize data that I'm obsessed with and provide people to get a better glimpse into who I am.
Community
Brooklyn
I'm a trauma-informed freediving and yoga instructor, founder of Mind Body Water Immersions, and Community Cultivator at Zo. I've built wellness communities, grown a global online membership space, and now lead Build Hours, events, and social at Zo. I've built my whole business on Zo, which is why I am able to work two jobs! Also I'd love to connect with you in fairyland - book a call with me in the magical meeting room :)
Welcome to fairyland - the magical kingdom where I keep all my work, creative and personal growth projects + connect with others!
Marketing
Puerto Rico
I'm a writer and grew up in Taiwan.
Operations
LA
Hey there, I'm John - and I'm an optimist first and foremost! I believe in the good of technological innovation to help us all unleash the fullest possibilities of our inner creativity. I'm a tinkerer, a nerd, a founder of several amazing companies (getcandidcards.com, readingrhythms.co, tribute.co). I'm currently spending my days supporting users at Zo, building internal workflows, and helping make Zo better for us all. I go hiking multiple times a week and love spending as much time as possible basking in the sun with my girlfriend 🌞
johnlif.com is my interactive, multiplayer, playable minecraft-esque portfolio world! Built on Zo and rendered in your browser :)
Data
Brooklyn
I have been looking at data in one form or another for a while, most notably at Grammarly, Facebook (ehm, Meta) and BitTorrent. Living in Brooklyn with wife and daughter after having explored a few more cities on the way. I like to spend time diving, playing chess, and socializing. Forza Samba.
The always WIP cyber-side of me.
We're based in Brooklyn and San Francisco. These are our core values:
Our users are builders.
Though our users are "consumers," we see them as the next generation of developers. We're building a platform for this generation of builders, and we're obsessed with creating infrastructure you own, backed by abstractions that last.
A love for the craft.
Even as software industrializes, we stay obsessed with the art and science of software engineering. Software is a stack of abstractions designed for humans and machines. Machines don't care about elegance – so we must take extra care.
Thoughtful AI.
Automation is leverage. AI should be used as a tool for words, code, and work. We live on the bleeding edge of doing things with AI. But we also know that careless use creates fatigue, erodes trust, and carries real risk. We use AI deliberately.
Communicate with clarity and care.
We're operating heavy machinery. Real people depend on Zo for real work. We communicate with each other and our users with the same precision and care we put into building our software.
PS – We're hiring.