Usman Gul

Buckle up, cause I’m bout to tell you about Usman Gul. This guy’s the real deal in the startup world. He’s a YC W23 alum, which already tells you he’s got some serious chops. But the story is way more interesting than just that.

Usman started out in the US-studied in Ohio, and then jumped into the scene at MasterCard. Dude’s got that global vibe, having worked across both the US and Pakistan. Then he jumped into the startup game big time, landing a spot on the early team at DoorDash around 2016-2018. That’s where he really cut his teeth, learning how to scale a business fast, move quickly, and be productive. He’s not the type to sit around; he’s all about execution speed and data-informed decisions.

After DoorDash, he threw himself into his own thing-Airlift. That was a bold move. Raised over $120 million, no joke. The goal was to shake up urban mobility in Pakistan, make it more accessible – super ambitious. But, like a lot of startups, it hit the market crash in 2022, and unfortunately, Airlift had to shut down. Still, Usman didn’t just sit around feeling sorry. Instead, he took all that experience-building, raising, failing, learning-and turned it into something new.

Now, he’s the CEO and founder of Metal, a Y Combinator Winter 2023 company. Metal is all about fixing a problem that every founder feels: fundraising is a nightmare. They’re building AI-driven tools and investor intelligence tech to make finding the right investors way easier and more targeted. Basically, they want to democratize access to venture capital and cut out all the bullshit manual research founders have to do. It’s about making fundraising smarter, faster, and more fair.

What’s crazy is how his process shows what drives him: he’s all about making things better, faster, smarter. He’s been on the ground, scaling startups, raising mad money, and now he’s leveraging that experience to help other founders crush it. He’s got this relentless focus on execution and data-those are his secret weapons.

Honestly, Usman’s story is about resilience, hustle, and always pushing forward. He’s been in the trenches, seen both success and failure, and keeps coming out swinging. That’s what makes him not just another entrepreneur, but someone who really understands what it takes to build, grow, and innovate at the highest level. No Cap-he’s the guy to watch.