Built and exited
Co-founded Adscend Media, scaled it as CEO, later served as Chair, and guided the company through acquisition.
Bootstrapped operator and investor
Fehzan Ali
Entrepreneur, technologist, and long-term fundamental investor.
I worked with a team to build a platform used by hundreds of millions of users, generating greater than $100M in revenue during my time as CEO. In January 2021, I transitioned into the Chair role and led the company to a successful exit in July 2025.
User reach
Built incentive-driven products and marketplaces that operated across many billions of transactions.
Back to building
Exploring software businesses in markets shaped by incentives, data, trust, and distribution.
In a nutshell
Bootstrapped entrepreneur that just doesn't quit.
I started my first successful company at 17 with a $200 investment that I barely scraped together. I saved the profits while completing college as a first-generation student.
As a first-generation American, my parents instilled values that became key drivers of my work.
- Perseverance
- Determination
- Discipline
- Passion
- Ethics
At 19, I parlayed that early success into Adscend Media. Within 18 months of founding, we hit an eight-figure revenue run rate, bootstrapped and debt-free. Over the next 17 years, I led the company through multiple transformations and an eventual exit.
Capital
Long-term fundamental investor.
Since 2011, I have deployed capital across real estate, private investments, public markets, and emerging markets. My investing style is fundamental: understand the business from the inside out, identify the moat, and insist on valuation discipline.
I do not limit myself to value or growth companies. I care about the valuation I invest at, the durability of the moat, and the patience to hold through cycles.
2011Started investing
GlobalMarket lens
LongHolding period
What's next
Software will keep eating the world.
I am staying focused on software in industries I know well. As co-founder and CEO of a rewarded ad platform, I learned incentives, virtual currencies, transactional security, marketplace creation, and how technology-led advantages compound at scale.
As I explore my next startup, I am also investing in young companies where I can provide value in addition to capital.
Connect
Building, investing, or thinking through incentives?
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