From Beta to Billion-Dollar Valuation: How to Scale an AI Startup

// Fireside Chat

Location: The Landing Downstairs

Time: 12:15 PM – 1:00 PM

Speakers: Zohaib Rattu, Sahil Bhaiwala

Abstract:

Scaling from MVP to unicorn requires more than good code—it demands vision, discipline, and relentless execution. This session features founders who’ve built AI startups from the ground up, sharing strategies on product-market fit, global scaling, and navigating the venture landscape. The conversation will highlight lessons in resilience, growth, and impact at scale.

Speaker Biographies:

Zohaib Rattu — Zohaib Rattu, current Partner at Social Snowball, is a growth strategist and community builder. Social Snowball is a word-of‑mouth marketing platform that automates affiliate, referral, and influencer programs for eCommerce brands. He played a leading role in scaling Social Snowball and shepherding its successful acquisition by Dotdigital at a $35M cash exit. Zohaib also co-founded muslimprofessionals, now among the largest free Muslim professional communities in the U.S. where he built and led a slack and event based group that continues to serve over 10,000 members across North America.

Sahil Bhaiwala — Sahil Bhaiwala is the Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Handshake AI. The company has a core business focused on university recruiting and is leveraging its relationships with universities to enable students and young professionals to monetize their expertise and produce data to train AI models. They work with 6 of the top AI labs and have activated thousands of people to produce data.