John Xie

Major props to John Xie, dude’s the real deal in the startup world. This guy’s been around the block, crushed it in multiple spaces, and honestly, he’s just getting started.

So, John’s from the Bronx, went to The Bronx High School of Science, you know, that place’s a grind. Then he jumped into tech and started building shit early on. His process’s all about creating tools that make life easier for teams and communities. He co-founded Minus (that’s Min.us), one of the first social file-sharing platforms back in the day, super ahead of its time. People were sharing docs and social stuff way before it was cool.

Then he co-founded MeowChat, a social discovery app that blew up with over 25 million installs, which got snapped up by Razer. That’s a serious proof he’s got the magic touch when it comes to apps that hit scale fast. After that, he jumped into ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant behind TikTok, where he was Senior Director of Internationalization. Basically, he was helping take one of the biggest social apps on the planet global. That’s some advanced stuff, showing he’s got the skills to scale products worldwide.

Fast forward, he’s now the co-founder and CEO of Taskade, which is this super slick real-time collaboration tool for distributed teams. Think Slack meets Notion, but with a fresh twist. It’s all about making remote teamwork smooth, and honestly, the product’s fire. He’s been leading it through YC’s S19 batch, so he’s got that startup hustle on lock.

And get this, he’s also an angel investor in a bunch of startups like DEV.to, Writesonic, and Laserfocus. Dude’s not just building, he’s also backing the next wave of innovation. That shows he’s got his finger on the pulse of what’s coming next.

What’s wild is, John’s story isn’t just about tech wins. It’s about a guy who’s driven by the desire to build stuff that actually changes how people connect and work. His whole career screams “never settle”, from early social apps to global giants and now leading a hot SaaS startup. You can tell he’s motivated by a genuine passion for creating tools that enable teams and communities. Plus, he’s out here advocating for YC’s Startup School, pushing other founders to jump into the game.

Bottom line? John Xie’s the kind of founder who’s seen it all, done it all, and keeps pushing forward. He’s a builder, a connector, and a real deal in the startup scene. No Cap, he’s someone to watch, and honestly, he’s just getting started.