Ankit Zen · Founding product builder

A new vertical needs someone who can think, design, and ship.

I'm a founding product builder — fifteen years across venture thinking, product design, and AI-native delivery. I'm looking to go deep on one vertical, not juggle five projects. I embed in the work: clarify the bet, ship v1, then keep building as it grows — with your people learning alongside me so the vertical has real capacity, not one person holding it together. Not an agency. Not a slide deck. One person who owns the 0→1 loop and stays in it.

Founding Product Builder 0→1 · New vertical Multi-year depth AI-native Team enablement IIT Delhi · 15 years

Who this is for

If this sounds like you.

Startup founders

You have traction on the core product. An adjacent vertical is clear — but hiring a full product team before validation is slow and expensive. You want a founding product builder who moves at your speed: shape the bet, ship v1, prove the line.

Companies & groups

A holding company, family business, institute group, or corporate team wants a new product line or internal platform — with someone who thinks like an entrepreneur, understands constraints, and is accountable to shipped software.

What I bring

Four modes, one seat.

Venture thinking

Naming, positioning, story — clarity before the pitch deck.

Creative direction

UX and visual language so v1 feels coherent, not assembled.

AI-native building

Cursor-led delivery — full-stack tools and automations at a pace that didn't exist two years ago.

Team enablement

Your people learn the stack as we build. The goal isn't dependency on me — it's a vertical with a team that can run and grow it together.

The arc

Embedded, not outsourced.

  1. Conversation first — Is there a real vertical bet? Sponsor access and at least one insider to grow with?
  2. Phase 1 — Bet & v1 (months 1–6) — Sharpen the thesis, ship the first real product slice, prove the line works.
  3. Phase 2 — Grow & own (years 1–2) — Scale what works, harden the product. Your insider(s) ship weekly alongside me.
  4. Phase 3 — Compound (years 3–5) — Build something durable — revenue, team, and a story big enough to stand alone, raise, or sell. That's the horizon I'm interested in.

Multi-year · India-friendly, remote-ok · terms on conversation — aligned on building something that compounds.

On the record

Work worth pointing to.

WorkForce SaaS Hiring funnel SaaS — live private deploy for a real HR team. Case study on the portfolio.
Zet · Tinkerly · Countingwell Early brand, product, and story work before scale — naming, identity, app and web foundations.
Opportunity OS Fit-matched discovery and outreach drafts — first instance built on my profile as a live demo.
Cursor AI School Same enablement model as training — for sponsors who already have a lead and need an FDE built in.

Portfolio: work.differentthandefault.com · Full story: /journey

What I'm looking for

The next company to build.

I'm not looking for "one slot" or a six-month contractor. I'm looking for the next company to build — a founder or team early enough that product, culture, and systems are still being invented. One deep engagement at a time, with meaningful equity, in it for the long run: build it properly, compound for three to five years, and aim for an outcome that matters — spin-out, acquisition, or a product line that stands on its own. If that's roughly where you are, I'd like to hear what you're building.

The longer framing: Founding as a Profession · The First 1,000 Days

Tell me about your vertical.

A few lines by email is enough to start.

ankitzen@icloud.com