# James Beshara

> James Beshara is a Texas-born founder, angel investor, writer, musician, and philosophy podcaster based in California. He co-founded the group-payments company Tilt, guided it through a rapid rise and a difficult 2017 acquisition by Airbnb, and later co-founded the consumer brand Magic Mind and the career platform Apt AI. His public work now spans startup investing, essays, electronic music, and The Daily Vedantic, a short-form podcast that applies ancient philosophy to ordinary life.

- **Role:** Co-founder of Magic Mind and Apt AI; host of The Daily Vedantic
- **Organizations:** Magic Mind, Apt AI, The Daily Vedantic, Tilt, Airbnb, Y Combinator, Dvelo Fund
- **From:** Dallas, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A. in Economics, Wake Forest University, Sustainable development studies, London School of Economics and Political Science, Winter 2012 batch (Tilt), Y Combinator
- **Known for:** Co-founded Tilt, which served hundreds of thousands of groups and was acquired by Airbnb in 2017., Named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 and Inc.'s 30 Under 30 lists., Received Wake Forest University's Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award in 2015.

## Career timeline

- **2008** — As a Wake Forest senior, co-created the Dvelo Fund to support undergraduate study of development issues; later worked with a microfinance bank in Cape Town.
- **2010** — Developed Dvelo.org as a crowdfunding project for poverty-alleviation organizations.
- **2012** — Co-founded Crowdtilt with Khaled Hussein and joined Y Combinator's Winter 2012 batch; the company was later renamed Tilt.
- **2014** — Named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list.
- **2015** — Tilt reached a reported private valuation just under $400 million; Wake Forest presented Beshara with its Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award.
- **2017** — Airbnb acquired Tilt; Beshara joined Airbnb as a product director and worked on Experiences-related initiatives.
- **2019** — Launched the Below the Line podcast and published Beyond Coffee with Dan Engle and Katherine Haynes.
- **2020** — Commercially launched Magic Mind after years of developing the product.
- **2023** — Started The Daily Vedantic, a short-form daily podcast and video series about Advaita Vedanta.
- **2024** — Publicly announced The Daily Vedantic after producing more than 280 episodes; also released new music through his OPENSTATE project.
- **2025** — Magic Mind raised a reported $12.45 million Series A led by investors including BFG Partners, Goat Capital, and Jazz Venture Partners.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Tilt, which served hundreds of thousands of groups and was acquired by Airbnb in 2017.
- Named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 and Inc.'s 30 Under 30 lists.
- Received Wake Forest University's Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award in 2015.
- Built an angel-investment portfolio that his personal site describes as more than 150 startups.
- Co-authored the 2019 book Beyond Coffee.
- Created The Daily Vedantic, which Apple Podcasts listed with more than 700 episodes by 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Continues to publish The Daily Vedantic and publicly identifies his work across Magic Mind, Apt AI, angel investing, writing, and electronic music.
- **2025-09** — Magic Mind raised a reported $12.45 million Series A.
- **2024-09** — Announced The Daily Vedantic publicly after producing more than 280 short episodes.

## Links

- Website: https://jjbeshara.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jjbeshara
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/jamesbeshara
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDailyVedantic
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesjbeshara/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/james-beshara
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-28