Misbah Ashraf

twitter. linkedin. medium. substack.

i'm working on jar to make investing accessible to younger individuals. we're building a consumer financial product starting with savings and investments in gold – an asset that carries deep cultural significance and familiarity.

a few things about me:

grew up building products since i was young

on the internet my whole life, which shaped how i think about technology and people

dropped out of college to start cibola, a payment venture

founded marsplay, a community-led commerce platform for fashion and beauty. scaled it to 1 million+ active users and sold

led product and growth at pulse.qa (yc), pursuit, toymail (yc), and spangle

worked with startups across three continents, growing products from 0 to 15 million+ users

recognized as forbes india 30 under 30 and forbes asia 30 under 30

my work has appeared in publications including bloomberg, techcrunch, forbes, huffpost, business insider, business world and bangalore mirror

some things i believe:

network matters, but a combination of technology, curiosity, hard work, growth mindset and perseverance can change anybody's life.

growth matters from day one. working with multiple startups taught me that you can't build first and think about growth later. they're the same thing.

building products is about people, numbers and winning. my passion lies in creating things people find delightful. all my energy comes from bringing order to chaos, solving problems before they surface and staying focused when things get difficult.

choose people over ideas. this helped me work with insanely talented teams around the world. the best products come from the best teams.

complex financial products should be accessible and delightful. especially in emerging markets where access to financial services is limited. it's not just business – it's about real impact on people's lives.

you can talk to me about design, community building, growth, product, impact and storytelling.

i'll probably add more to this soon. meanwhile, feel free to say hi on email.