Mahyar Raissi

Look, here’s the real scoop on Mahyar Raissi. This guy’s the real deal in the startup world. He’s a Canadian-Iranian software engineer who’s been grinding for a minute. His process’s all about taking big swings and building stuff that actually matters.

So, Mahyar jumped into tech early, studying Software Engineering at Waterloo, you know, one of the top schools for that stuff. After that, he jumped into the scene, working at places like Zynga, OANDA, and some startups like Handshake, Tagged, and Xtreme Labs. He wasn’t just doing grunt work either, he moved from full-stack dev to product management, which shows he’s got both the coding skills and the vision to lead.

But here’s where it gets interesting: in 2018, he co-founded OpenPhone with Daryna Kulya during Y Combinator’s Summer batch. That’s a big deal, YC is basically the startup bootcamp that turns founders into legends. With OpenPhone, he wanted to shake up how small businesses and teams communicate. Instead of clunky landlines or old-school PBX systems, he built a sleek, modern app that gives you shared numbers, international calling, and analytics. Basically, he saw a problem and built a solution that’s easy to use and actually works.

And man, did he crush it. Under his leadership, OpenPhone raised a crazy $40 million in Series B funding and grew to over 125 people in SF. That’s not small time, that’s some serious hustle. It shows he’s got the vision, the execution chops, and the ability to rally a team around something that’s both useful and expandable.

What does this all say about Mahyar? To me, it’s pretty clear: he’s driven by a desire to solve real problems for real people. He’s all about building tech that actually makes a difference, not just creating shiny gadgets. His background, from Zynga to leading a YC-backed startup, shows he’s not afraid to jump into the deep end, learn fast, and make shit happen.

That’s what makes him such an important figure in the startup scene. He’s proof that with the right mix of technical skills, grit, and focus, you can build something that changes the game. And honestly, I think we’ll hear a lot more from him, this guy’s just getting started.