Founder/CEO @ LEANSTACK | Bestselling author and founder

I have bootstrapped several products to millions of users and worked with thousands of early-stage entrepreneurs worldwide - helping them systematically find repeatable and scalable business models using my battle-tested playbooks. 

Instead of:
-Spending several months building a product you hope people will buy.

Imagine a world where you:
- Spend several weeks defining a product you know people will buy.

For aspiring or early-stage founders:

If you’re looking to bootstart your idea, consider joining my 30-day Business Model Design Challenge below: 

You'll learn how to:
- Find or test a big idea worth pursuing,
- Design a business model blueprint,
- Stress-test your idea before investing time, money, and effort. 

Join the next Business Model Design Challenge:
https://runlean.ly/challenge

Ash Maurya

I've been working on something new.

After a decade of teaching Running Lean through frameworks and workshops, I realized something was missing. Founders understood the Lean Canvas intellectually. They could explain Demo-Sell-Build. They got it.

And then they'd go right back to building inside their heads.

The problem wasn't understanding. It was *feeling*. You have to feel the Innovator's Bias before you can overcome it.

So I did something I've never done before.

I wrote a novel.

THE INNOVATOR'S BIAS — a startup novel. Coming April 7th.

Pre-order now on Kindle.

I help founders build business models that scale. Author and creator of Lean Canvas.

These 2 boxes of the Lean Canvas are the outer pillars that carry your business model.

If you get these assumptions wrong, it’s easy to see how everything else in your business model falls apart.

- You end up describing a solution that no one wants (not desirable).
- Even if you build the solution you're already envisioning (feasible),
- No one buys it (not viable).

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The Just Start Manifesto (updated)
==========================
1. Entrepreneurs Are Everywhere.
2. There is No Better Time to Start.
3. Most Products Still Fail.
4. The Number One Reason Why Products Fail: Building Something Nobody Wants. 
5. The Number Two Reason Why Products Fail: Not starting. 
6. You Don’t Need Permission to Start.
7. Don’t Write a Business Plan. Sketch a Business Model.
8. Take Stock of Your Key Beliefs.
9. Take Stock of Your Key Metrics.
10. Take Stock of Your Key Insights.
11. Have Faith in Yourself. Be Ruthless With Your Ideas.
12. Don't Start With an MVP.
13. Not Faux Validation, But Traction
14. Love the Problem, Not Your Solution.
15. Sell Before You Build.
16. Bootstrap Your Way to Early Traction.
17. Focus on Time Versus Timing.
18. Value Your Time Correctly.
19. Avoid Premature Optimization.
20. Practice Right Action, Right Time.
21. Speed of Learning is the Only Unfair Advantage.
22. Speed of Learning x Speed of Execution = 100x Founder.
23. Remove Failure from Your Vocabulary.
24. It’s Time to Act on Your Big Idea.
25. Just Start.

I build systematic frameworks for early-stage founders. Author and creator of Lean Canvas.

The Just Start Manifesto

A feature isn't "done" when the code is shipped.

It's done when it provides validated learning from customers.

But validated learning is still a trailing indicator of what customers want. 

We can do better. 

Demand validation, sell before you build, is a leading indicator of what customers want.

This simple redefinition changes everything about your development process.

Demo-Sell-Build >> Build-Demo-Sell

The Weekend Canvas Exercise

Try this right now. It takes 30 seconds.

Pull up your Lean Canvas. Cover the Solution box with your hand.

Now explain why your business matters.

If you struggle — if the pitch falls apart without the solution — you're building solution-first.

The problem and customer should carry the pitch on their own. The solution is just the delivery mechanism.

I do this exercise every time I update my canvas. It's uncomfortable every single time. That discomfort is the point.

When I built CloudFire, the solution WAS the pitch. "A photo sharing app that..." Take away the app, and there was nothing. The problem wasn't specific enough to stand on its own.

When I built LeanSpark, the pitch without the solution was: "Founders waste months building products nobody wants because they skip structured discovery." That problem stands on its own. The solution is one of many possible responses.

Your problem should be so clear, so specific, and so painful that the audience nods before you ever mention what you built.

Try it. Let me know what you find.

Hot take: AI is making startups fail faster.

Not on purpose. But here's what's happening:

Founders use AI to generate code in hours. Ship MVPs in a weekend. Launch products in weeks instead of months.

Sounds great, right?

Except they're shipping untested ideas at record speed.

The build cost collapsed. But the failure rate didn't. Because the bottleneck was never "can I build it?"

It was always "should I build it?"

AI tools that help you build faster are accelerating the wrong part of the process. You're arriving at the wrong destination — just sooner.

The founders who win in the AI era aren't the ones who ship fastest. They're the ones who think clearest about what to ship.

That means starting with your business model. Stress-testing your assumptions. Running experiments before writing code.

LEANSpark is an AI tool that helps with the part most AI tools ignore — the thinking before the building.

Because the most expensive line of code is the one that solves a problem nobody has.

Free to try. No credit card required.

Every founder I coach thinks their business model is solid. Then we run the stress tests.

The pattern is always the same: strongest on Feasibility. Weak on everything else.

"Can I build it?" Yes.
"Do people want it?" I think so.
"Will the economics work at scale?" ...
"Why now and not 5 years ago?" ...
"What compounds in my favor over time?" ...

Two out of seven isn't a business model. It's a hunch with a prototype.

The blind spots don't kill you on day one. Cracks appear in month 9, and they kill you at month 18 when you've hired a team, raised money, and can't figure out why growth stalled.

What's the dimension you've never stress-tested?

I interviewed 47 customers. All of them said yes.

"Love the concept."
"Would definitely use this."
"When can I sign up?"

So I built it. 9 months. Full product. A photo-sharing app called CloudFire.

500 people signed up. Revenue trickled in. And then I did a 5-minute calculation that I should have done on day one, which proved my model wasn't viable for my business goal. 


47 people told me what I wanted to hear. Zero people told me the truth.

The lesson I carry everywhere now: Compliments are not evidence. Enthusiasm is not commitment. The only validation that matters is someone reaching for their wallet.

Three levels of customer evidence:
1. They SAY they have the problem
2. They SPEND money solving it today
3. They'll COMMIT money to YOUR solution

Most founders stop at level 1 and call it "validated."

Level 3 is where the truth lives.

What's the most misleading validation you've ever received?

Why "Talk to Customers" Is Bad Advice

"Talk to customers" is the most common startup advice. It's also the least useful.

Because HOW you talk to them matters more than WHETHER you talk to them.

Bad customer conversations:
- "Would you use a product that does X?" (Leading question — always gets yes)
- "What features would you want?" (They design your product for you — badly)
- "Is this a big problem?" (They agree to be polite)

Good customer conversations:
- "Walk me through the last time this happened." (Specific, past tense)
- "What did you do about it?" (Reveals actual behavior)
- "How much did that cost you?" (Quantifies the pain)

The difference: bad conversations confirm your bias. Good conversations reveal reality.

The single biggest upgrade is:

Stop asking what people would do. Start asking what they already did.

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Meet the Lean(er) Canvas.

While sketching out a complete Lean Canvas is a great exercise for deconstructing an idea into a business model, here's an even faster ideation tool I use at the outset of all my ideas.

I focus attention on just the two outer boxes of the canvas: Customer segment and Problem.

These are the outer pillars that carry your business model.

If you get these assumptions wrong, it’s easy to see how everything else in your business model falls apart.

- You end up describing a solution that no one wants (not desirable).
- Even if you build the solution you're already envisioning (feasible),
- no one buys it (not viable).

Yes, just these 4 boxes are enough to prompt you to stress test your idea's desirability, viability, and feasibility.

If your idea doesn't pass these stress tests, your channels and unfair advantages won’t offer any respite.

Your business model is doomed.

Most Lean Canvases I see have this problem.

Trying to be two (or more) businesses at once.

I see this pattern constantly:

- Customer segment says "Small businesses AND enterprises"
- Revenue streams lists "subscriptions AND marketplace fees"
- Problem box describes two unrelated pain points

This is split model confusion. And it's the #1 reason for aimless wandering. 

Too many business models makes your canvas vague and you can't test a vague idea. 

The solution: create multiple smaller focused variants with exactly one business model on them. 

Here's how:

1. Detect the split axis
Is the tension in your customer segments? Your revenue model? Your channels? Your solution?

2. Stress-test independently
Run each variant through the same rigor: viability, desirability, and feasibility. The numbers will tell you which model has the most potential.

3. Choose with evidence, not intuition
Now you're not guessing which model to pursue. You're comparing validated data across focused alternatives.

This is the search mindset.

Most founders skip straight to execution with a single, broad model and spend months wondering why nothing clicks.

The best founders explore 2-3 focused models in parallel and converge on the winner fast.

I built this entire workflow into LEANSpark. It detects the split, generates focused variants in parallel, and lets you stress-test each one independently.

Watch it in action 👇

Simple models help us understand the complex. 

Before investing in any company, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger use a latticework of mental models to evaluate the company. 

If it passes their tests, they move all in. Otherwise, they do nothing and wait.

Evaluating early-stage ideas is no different.

I have settled on 3 universal (product-agnostic) mental models that I use to
- baseline progress,
- prioritize risks, and
- formulate a “right action, right time” next step.

Here they are: 

1. Lean Canvas: Deconstruct an idea using 12 basic building blocks.

2. Traction Roadmap: Chart key milestones using 5 customer-centric metrics.  

3. Customer Forces: Understand customer behavior using 4 causal forces. 

BELIEFS + METRICS + INSIGHTS = BUSINESS MODEL STORY

Entrepreneurship is like a martial art — you can only learn by doing.

But "doing" without a sparring partner means burning months on the wrong thing.

LEANSpark is the sparring partner. Maps your business model, spots risky assumptions, and designs/runs experiments with you.

Free to try. No credit card.

Your Unique Value Proposition has 8 seconds to work.

That's how long first-time visitors spend on landing pages.

Forget complex benefit statements. Focus on the finished story benefit:

❌ "Eye-catching résumé templates"
✅ "Land your dream job"

Get inside your customer's head, not your product features.

The biggest waste in startups isn't money. It's effort spent on the wrong things at the wrong time.

I've worked with founders who worked 80-hour weeks and made zero progress — because they were doing Stage 3 activities at Stage 1.

Brand redesigns when they hadn't validated the problem. Growth hacking when they didn't have product-market fit. Hiring when they couldn't describe their customer.

Every stage has 2-3 actions that matter. Everything else is noise.

What stage are you at right now, and what are your 2-3?

#RightActionRightTime

Right Action, Right Time

We pre-sold 209 customers in 40 days.

Before writing a single line of production code.

Here's the Demo-Sell-Build playbook:

Most founders go Build > Demo > Sell. 

(Without vibe-coding):
Months of building. Then hoping someone buys.

(With Vibe-coding):
Days of building. Then months of trying to get someone to buy.

We flipped it: Demo > Sell > Build.

Step 1: DEMO.
We didn't build a product. We built a demonstration of the transformation. What does your life look like AFTER using this? We showed that. Perfectly okay to vibe-code here without going overboard on product. A demo is NOT meant to be used by customers. 

Step 2: SELL.
Not "would you use this?" — that's a survey.
Not "would you pay $50/mo?" — that's still a survey.
But "pay $150 to get early-access" — that's validation.
209 out of 307 people committed. 68% conversion rate.

Step 3: BUILD.
Now we knew exactly what to build, who it was for, and that they'd pay. No guessing. No hoping. Just executing against validated demand.

The fear: "But what if the demo isn't perfect?"
It doesn't have to be. That's the point. You're testing demand, not polish.

Building is the most expensive way to test an assumption. And yes, even when AI makes building cheaper, building without validation just digs a bigger future-sunk-cost fallacy sand trap. 

A demo costs hours. A product costs months.

The safest career move in 2026 isn't a promotion. It's validating a business model on the side.

Here's the math nobody talks about:

Your employer is actively figuring out how to do your job with AI and fewer people. That's not cynicism — that's their fiduciary duty to shareholders. Every earnings call now includes "AI efficiency gains." You're the efficiency being gained.

Meanwhile, the same AI that threatens your role has collapsed the cost of starting a company by 10x.

What used to require a co-founder, $500K in funding, and 18 months of runway — one person with domain expertise and AI can now validate in 90 days for under $1K.

The risk equation has flipped. But most people are still operating on the old math:
- Old math: Job = safe. Startup = risky.
- New math: Job = someone else controls your future. Validated startup = you control your future.

I'm not saying quit tomorrow. I'm saying: the skills you've built over 5, 10, 15 years in your industry? Those aren't just resume lines. They're founder superpowers.

You already know the problems. You already know the customers. You already know what's broken.

The only thing you haven't done is validate whether someone will pay you to fix it.

That's a weekend experiment, not a life decision.

What's the one problem in your industry that you see every day and nobody is solving well?

Here's a test for your "competitive advantage":

Can someone replicate it in 90 days with enough money?

If yes, it's not an advantage. It's a head start. And head starts disappear.

Things that are NOT advantages:
- "Our team" (good teams can be hired)
- "Our technology" (technology can be rebuilt)
- "First mover" (first movers get outcompeted by fast followers constantly)
- "Our features" (features get copied in weeks)

Things that ARE advantages:
- Network effects that compound (each user makes the product better for all users)
- Proprietary data that grows with usage (every interaction trains your system)
- Brand trust earned through years of consistent delivery
- Switching costs that deepen over time (not artificial lock-in — genuine integration depth)

The pattern: Real advantages get STRONGER the longer you operate. Fake advantages get WEAKER the more competitors enter.

Fill in the blank: "The longer we operate, _________ gets harder for competitors to replicate."

If you can't fill that in, your advantage is a head start, not a moat.

The Math That Changed How I Build

10 experiments at $100 each teach you more than 1 launch at $10,000.

Same total investment. 10x the learning.

The math:
- 10 experiments = 10 data points, 10 chances to be wrong, 10 opportunities to adjust
- 1 launch = 1 data point, 1 chance to be wrong, 1 expensive lesson

Early in my career, I optimized for launches. Big reveals. Grand openings. Each one felt significant. Most of them taught me one thing: I was wrong about something I could have tested for $100.

Now I optimize for learning velocity. How many assumptions can I test this month? Not how many features can I ship?

The founders who learn fastest don't have bigger budgets. They run smaller experiments.

What's one assumption you could test this week for under $100?

How to build your first startup moat.
Most founders don’t have an unfair advantage to start, and that’s okay.

A true unfair advantage is something that cannot be easily copied or bought. And finding one takes time.

The good news is that you don’t need one at the early stages, since all ideas sound a little crazy at first. 

So, embrace your obscurity as a gift and...

First, hunker down and focus on building a compelling Unique Value Proposition before your Unfair Advantage.

Then lean into what makes your compelling Unique Value Proposition truly unique — something different and better…

Turn that into a Counter-positioning strategy -- something incumbents can't copy without hurting their business model.

You’ll have the beginnings of your first unfair advantage.

Wife & Mother of 7 | Venture Capital | Scientist | TOP 30 Patent Drafters | United States Patent Examiner | Violinist | Polyglot | STEM Children's Author | #1 LinkedIn Global Influencer in Innovation/IP Law

Kathryn Vatt is a scientist, former USPTO Examiner, and devoted wife and mother of seven, with over 25 years shaping the future of innovation. Recognized as one of the Top 30 Patent Drafters and Prosecutors and the #1 LinkedIn Global Influencer in Innovation/IP Law, Kathryn has built a career at the intersection of science, law, and business—helping inventors, startups, and global companies turn creativity into competitive advantage.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (B.S. Biology) and Johns Hopkins University (M.S. Biotechnology), Kathryn is currently pursuing her Juris Doctor in Patent Law at the Franklin Pierce School of Law, one of the world’s leading IP programs. Her rare cross-disciplinary background gives her both the scientific insight and the legal strategy to protect ideas at the highest level.

At the USPTO, Kathryn examined thousands of patent applications, conducted exhaustive prior art searches, and made determinations that shaped industries and influenced global innovation. After leaving the Patent Office, she founded Vatt IP Management, where she develops bulletproof IP strategies, drafts airtight applications, and supports litigation teams in defending patents. She also mentors engineering and life science students through Arizona State University’s Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute and judges international startup competitions, nurturing the next generation of innovators.

Her entrepreneurial vision extends to her ventures:

My Startup Shield™, a founder-focused program that helps startups secure their innovations before they pitch. It protects ideas at the earliest, most vulnerable stage and positions founders to raise capital with confidence

My AI Examiner™, the world’s first proprietary patent search platform that combines examiner-trained AI Patent Examiners with Kathryn’s own human review. Unlike conventional tools, it doesn’t just search faster—it “thinks like an examiner,” offering inventors and startups clarity, precision, and strategy.

MyKidVentors™, a STEM-inspired children’s book series born from her seven children’s real “What if?” questions. Through these imaginative stories, she nurtures curiosity in the next generation, showing that every big invention begins with a single question.

For Kathryn, the same motherly instinct that guides her family fuels her professional mission: to protect, guide, and nurture startups with care, strategy, foresight, and integrity. She believes innovation doesn’t just start in labs or boardrooms—it starts in the curious minds of those brave enough to ask, “What if?”

Kathryn V.

OREOS FOR MOTHER’S DAY

At a small neighborhood shop, a man quietly changes lives.

He gives free food to kids who show him their grades...a reward not just for doing well in school, but for trying, for caring, for showing up.

In this video, one young boy steps up to the counter, offered the chance to choose anything he wants.

Today, he picks milk, bread, eggs...and cookies for Mother’s Day.
And the shop owner...touched by that choice...adds a bouquet of flowers for him to bring home.

Neither of them realizes that what just happened will be remembered for years.
Because kindness like that doesn’t end at the counter...it multiplies.

Every act of generosity plants a seed:
A child whose confidence blooms.
A parent who feels seen and loved.
A community reminded that humanity still shines bright.

So here’s to the everyday heroes: the ones who lift others quietly, who give without expecting anything in return.

You may never see the full impact of your kindness...but someone’s world is brighter because of you. 


------
If you enjoy my posts please follow me:
Kathryn V.
VATT IP Management
My AI Examiner™
My Startup Shield™
https://lnkd.in/gAERstmz
https://lnkd.in/gmAS9P7Z
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Your Company ≠ Their Company

Startup culture is loud.

Announcements.
Rounds.
Launches.
Leaps.

And even the most confident founders feel it.
That quiet comparison.
“Should I be further by now?”
“Why does their growth look easier?”
“Am I missing something?”

But when you compare, you slowly lose sight of what’s yours to build.
And what’s yours was never meant to look like anyone else’s.

Different wiring.
Different gifts.
Different responsibilities.
Different seasons.

Some are drawn to bold, public momentum.
Others move with careful protection.
Some are compelled to disrupt.
Others feel called to preserve and strengthen.

None of it is accidental.
And none of it is a hierarchy.

But when you try to imitate someone else’s arc,
you drift from your own.

You trade alignment for applause.

At Founder Chapel, we care deeply about stewardship.

Stewarding your vision.
Stewarding your ownership.
Stewarding your influence.
Stewarding the people who trust you.

Because leadership isn’t about matching someone else’s leap.
It’s about faithfully tending what’s been placed in your hands.

That’s why we created Founder Chapel Learning Pods.
Small, steady circles where founders can step out of comparison and return to clarity...about their gifts, their values, and the kind of company they are called to build.

I’m deeply honored to be leading the pod focused on intellectual property and building your moat; helping founders protect what they’ve been entrusted with and think carefully about how they bring it into the market with integrity.

My incredible Founder Chapel family: David Y., Jay Jin, and Katrena Drake are leading pods of their own, each walking alongside founders through different pressures and seasons.

You don’t need someone else’s platform.
You need to steward your own.
And you don’t have to do that alone.

Come as you are.
We welcome you to apply here → https://lnkd.in/gM9xz6qk

FIRST TOGETHER


At Founder Chapel, we believe real leaders don’t climb alone.
They rise by lifting others.

In a world obsessed with rankings, valuations, and visibility, it’s easy to believe leadership means standing above everyone else. 

But the founders who build legacies understand something deeper:
Nothing meaningful is built alone.

Behind every breakthrough are unseen sacrifices, honest conversations, shared burdens, and people who stood steady when things felt uncertain.

True leadership isn’t about guarding the top spot.
It’s about making space on it.

Because titles fade.
Headlines move on.
Momentum comes and goes.

But character remains.
Stewardship remains.
The way you build...and who you build with...remains.

That’s why Founder Chapel exists.

Through our Learning Pods, founders gather not just to scale companies, but to sharpen judgment, strengthen conviction, and build with integrity alongside others who believe leadership is a responsibility, not a spotlight.

If you’re building something that matters and you want to build it with depth, wisdom, and community...we invite you to apply here → https://lnkd.in/gM9xz6qk

Founder Chapel: Build well. Lead faithfully. Rise together.
David Y. Jay Jin Katrena Drake

Three founders will leave my Arizona Tech Week event patent-pending.

We’re getting closer…

My Patent Pending Party™ at Arizona Tech Week (April 6–12) is coming up, and the response so far has been incredible. I’ve already had the chance to speak with some truly impressive founders and I’ve even started getting requests to bring the party to other cities 😊 

The event itself is shaping up to be something really special.

We’ll be hosting:
• A founder panel featuring raw, honest conversations about the entrepreneurial journey: the highs, the lows, the mistakes, and what founders would do differently knowing what they know now.

• An “Ask the Examiner” AMA session,  where you'll get to ask questions about patents, intellectual property strategy, and how the system actually works from an investor who spent fifteen years inside the U.S. Patent Office deciding which innovations got approved and which ones didn't. 

• A live patent hackathon, where three pre-selected founders will leave the party officially patent-pending. On me.

We’ll also have investors in the room, and we’ll end the evening with time for networking with founders, investors, and builders from across the ecosystem.

If you want a chance to be one of those three founders, there is still time to apply.

There are three Saturdays left this month, and I’m using those days to hold short 15-minute pitch sessions on Hubble.                                

The pitch session itself is the application process.

You get 15 minutes:
• 5 minutes to pitch what you’re building.
• 10 minutes for me to ask questions the way an investor with an IP strategist lens would.

From those conversations, I’ll select three founders to be invited to my Patent Pending Party™ during Arizona Tech Week.

And don’t worry...you don’t have to live in Arizona to apply.

If you’re selected, we’ll simply Zoom you in.

If you aren’t selected as one of the three, don’t worry.

You’ll either receive feedback on your pitch, or I may connect you with someone from my network of angels and VCs.

And you’re always welcome to come back and pitch again for the next party.

Ideas are everywhere.

Protected ideas are much more valuable.

If you want to pitch yours, you can book a Saturday slot here:
https://lnkd.in/g_jESdm3

Slots are limited.

Event details:
https://lnkd.in/g3dJgkzm


A special and heartfelt thank you to my sponsors, Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute at Arizona State University and Stearns Bank N.A. This event wouldn’t be possible without your support.

Open article: RSVP to A Patent-Pending Party #AZTechWeek | Partiful by partiful.com

RSVP to A Patent-Pending Party #AZTechWeek | Partiful

I’m honored to be returning for the second year in a row as a judge for Pitch the Pros® on April 10th in Greenville, SC.

As a former United States Patent Examiner I have spent more than 25 years helping founders and inventors protect what they build.

And I have seen how often founders focus on perfecting the pitch, raising capital, and gaining traction...only to think about protection later while losing ownership rights in the process. 

That is why this year, I am proud to personally offer a Protection Prize to the Top 3 presenters through moatly™.

Each of the top founders will receive dedicated intellectual property strategy support to help ensure what they are creating is properly protected. Not just celebrated. Not just visible. Protected.

Pitch the Pros® brings together a select group of founders, investors, and industry experts in an intentional setting. 

Ten founders will pitch live. The top three will also be invited to a private VIP evening featuring a Fireside Chat and networking experience with Daymond John of Shark Tank, along with dinner and live entertainment.

If you are building something meaningful and ready to step forward, I would love to see you there.

You can learn more here:
https://lnkd.in/eZyx78ge
Christopher Guerrera LSSMBB The Modern Inventor

Looking forward to supporting the founders who take the stage and helping them protect what they have worked so hard to create.

More than a thousand years ago, an army approached the gates of a Persian fortress.

Warriors gathered. Fear spread through the walls.

And then something unexpected happened.

A young woman rode out to meet them.

Her name was Gordafarid.

In the great Persian epic Shahnameh, written by poet Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi, Gordafarid sees her homeland under threat. 

Warriors gather. 
Fear spreads through the fortress.
So she does something no one expected.

She fastens her armor.
Mounts her horse.
And rides into the battlefield herself.

Even her enemies were astonished. They had never seen such bravery from someone so young.

But Gordafarid was not written as a fragile figure or a symbol of tragedy. 

Ferdowsi portrayed her as a strategist as well as a warrior. When she realized she could not defeat her opponent by strength alone, she relied on her wit, delaying the enemy long enough to protect her people.

For many Iranians, Gordafarid has become a symbol of something timeless:
the courage of women.

Today, on International Women’s Day, I find myself thinking about that courage. 

Not just in ancient stories, but in the lives of women all around us.

Women who stand up.
Women who speak out.
Women who lead.
Women who lift others even when the path is difficult.

Because women have always done this.

One woman opens a door.
Another holds it open.
Another widens the path so others can walk through it.

We all rise when we lift each other.

Today I want to honor women everywhere.

And I want to dedicate this day especially to the women of Iran whose courage continues to inspire the world.

Your courage has reminded the world that the strength of women is one of the most powerful forces on earth.

Across centuries, from Gordafarid’s battlefield to the voices we hear today, one truth remains:

The courage of women cannot be extinguished.

Happy International Women's Day to all of the amazing women in the world 💐

DOLPHINS IN THE DESERT 🐬🌵

Today is the day, Arizona!!

I am so excited to be serving as a panelist and workshop speaker for Dolphin Tank with Springboard Enterprises.

For more than two decades, Springboard has been accelerating women-led, high growth companies with an extraordinary track record:

850+ portfolio companies
$36.4B+ in value created
225+ exits
26 IPOs

And today, Dolphin Tank is happening at Grand Canyon University.

This is not your average pitch event.
It is a true launchpad. Women founders receive real time, thoughtful feedback from investors and operators who genuinely care about growth, strategy, and long term success.

I am honored to join an incredible panel and lead a special session during the Founder Workshop from 3-5 PM focused on protecting what you are building before you pitch, scale, or raise.

Joining me on the panel:
• Mitzi Krockover, MD, CEO, Founder, Investor at WomanCentered and Women’s Health Council Member at Springboard Enterprises
• Azin Radsan van Alebeek, Co founder and General Partner at Emmeline Ventures
• Rory Bidinger, Community Development Officer at Stearns Bank N.A.

If you are a founder, investor, operator, or supporter of women entrepreneurs, this is where you should be.

And Arizona…it is not too late.
🔗 Dolphin Tank RSVP: https://lnkd.in/eQDSywgq

🦾 Founder Workshop (3 to 5 PM): https://lnkd.in/ei4XZGSW

Come support the founders who are bravely stepping forward to pitch what they are building.

There is something powerful about watching vision meet opportunity in real time.

Proud to support this right here in Arizona. 🌵🐬

There is something defining about walking into a room and realizing you may be the only woman there and deciding that you belong anyway.

I have felt that in government spaces. In investor meetings. In high level technical discussions. In rooms where expertise is tested before it is trusted.

What I have learned is this. Leadership is not about blending in. It is about standing grounded in who you are, even when the room was not designed with you in mind.

My path began internationally, where at 21 I cofounded a company in Pakistan and learned firsthand that leadership is rarely about position and always about responsibility, requiring conviction, cultural awareness, and resilience. I later served as a United States Patent Examiner, and went on to found and lead my own firm, invest in innovation, mentor founders, and raise seven children. 

Each chapter has shaped how I understand leadership, not as authority, but as stewardship.

As Women’s History Month begins, I am honored to join a panel at The New York Public Library on March 4th for a conversation on growth and leadership alongside remarkable women whose journeys are equally layered and powerful.

We will be speaking candidly about what it truly takes to build influence, the pivots, the pressure, the persistence, and the quiet strength behind the scenes that rarely gets highlighted.

If you are building something, a company, a career, a life, while trying to remain fully yourself, this conversation is for you.

Grateful to James Corry for creating space for this meaningful dialogue and for bringing together such an inspiring group of women. I look forward to sitting alongside Christina Mitine, Laura Kavanagh, Olga Alcaraz, and Rechelle Balanzat for this important conversation.

👉🏼 Join us this Wednesday: https://lnkd.in/gtz_23Eu

Sr. GTM Leader at AWS | Head of GTM at Women in AI | Agentic AI Strategy & Digital Transformation | Industry Speaker

I know what it feels like to be the only woman in the room. If you’ve ever navigated climbing the leadership ladder while authentically showing up, this conversation is for you.

As Women’s History Month begins, I’m honored to be a panelist for “Five Powerful Women: Their Journeys of Growth and Leadership” on March 4th hosted by The New York Public Library.   

I’m joining four resilient women to share our career journeys and dive into the real grit required to build influence in both the corporate and government sectors.

Huge thank you to James Corry for hosting this important conversation! See you soon, Kathryn V., Laura Kavanagh, Olga Alcaraz, Rechelle Balanzat. 

👉🏼 Join us this Wednesday: https://lnkd.in/gtz_23Eu

#WHM2026 #WomensHistoryMonth #LeadingTheChange #IWD2026 #GiveToGain #WomenInTech #NYPL #Leadership

Open article: Five Powerful Women: Their Journeys of Growth and Leadership by nypl.org

Five Powerful Women: Their Journeys of Growth and Leadership

Founders: if you are fundraising, you do not want to miss this event.

And if you can, make sure you are in Bettina’s room.

I am not just saying that because she is one of my dearest friends. Bettina is truly one of the most thoughtful, caring, and brilliant investors I know.

The level of care and intention she brings to every founder conversation is rare. 

She listens deeply, asks the questions that actually matter, and shows up for founders long before there is ever a deal on the table.

That kind of stewardship is something special in venture. 💛

Silicon Valley Angel Investor (Pre-Seed) + LP | AI + FinTech + DeepTech + B2B SaaS + Sports Media + CPG | Ex-GoPro + Semiconductors | Hubble Advisor + Boardy Deal Partner + Incubator Mentor | Skiing + BucketHat Lover

Are you #FundRaising?  Come join me, along with 100+ other VCs, Angels, FO's

I'm hosting a networking room at the VC Virtual Conf on March 31 hosted by Max Pog.    There will be 40+ breakout rooms & 6 hours of VC networking & insights.

If you’re interested in joining the discussion
Register here:   https://vcconf.com?172

See you on the 31st... 
I'll probably be the only one in a #BucketHat

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Ash Maurya

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The Battle

Ash Maurya

Kathryn V.

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Posts

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ash Maurya's LinkedIn Performance

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