Shayan Zadeh is a technology entrepreneur who has founded, managed, and turned around companies in different industries.
Currently, Shayan is President of Zadeh Group, a holding company whose portfolio includes Leap Rail, Kloser, and Verge Network Solutions.
Leap Railis an artificial intelligence startup helping hospitals to run more efficient and streamlined operating rooms through power of machine learning and predictive analytics.
Verge Network Solutions is a telecommunication provider delivering best-in-class unified communication solutions to businesses and organizations such as banks, hospitals, schools, law firms, car dealerships, government agencies, and more in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri.
During COVID, Shayan turned around beloved retail brands Pier 1 and Dressbarn out of bankruptcy.
Pier 1 is a Texas-based retailer specializing in imported home furnishings and decor. In 2020, Shayan participated in the purchase of Pier 1 through bankruptcy proceedings and led the team responsible for completing transfer of the assets and spinning it back up again.
Dressbarn is a 60-year old women's clothing retailer. In 2019, Shayan participated in the purchase of Dressbarn from Ascena Retail Group. Under Shayan's leadership, since re-launch on Jan 1, 2020, Dressbarn saw unprecedented response from consumers, growing from zero to $65 million in sales run-rate and delivering multiple 100% growth quarters.
Previously, Shayan co-founded Zoosk, one of the world’s largest online dating platforms and a top 10 grossing app in the Apple App Store. Shayan led Zoosk as CEO, raising over $60M in venture capital and growing the company to over $200M in annual revenue. Zoosk was acquired for $258M in July of 2019.
Shayan received a Masters in Computer Science from University of Maryland and an MBA from University of Washington. He has been named to 40 Under 40 list by San Francisco Business Times and Alumni Hall of Fame by University of Maryland. His companies have received honors such as "The Next Big Thing" by Wall Street Journal and "Inc5000" by Inc Magazine. Shayan has been granted 8 patents by United States Patent and Trademark Office.
In addition, Shayan is an angel investor and advisor to startups including Huma, Sherbit (acquired by Huma), PaperKarma (acquired by reputation.com), and Identified (acquired by Workday). In his free time, Shayan enjoys spending time at his ranch, biking, playing tennis, and entertaining his Doberman Pinschers, Ivy & Duke.
