# Maren Kate

> Maren Kate Donovan is a serial entrepreneur and operator best known for founding Zirtual, a US-based virtual assistant marketplace that grew to 400+ employees and $11M ARR before its dramatic overnight collapse in 2015. She turned that spectacular failure into a career studying how people work, building Avra Talent (later Carrara), co-founding Inde.co for remote workers, serving as interim COO at Calm, and writing candidly about the realities of building companies. Currently exploring SMB acquisition and building Zozy, an AI-powered home inventory app, she writes at marenkate.com under the banner 'Build Real Things.'

- **Role:** Founder at Zozy
- **Organizations:** Zozy, Zirtual, Avra Talent, Carrara, Inde.co, Calm, Magic, Mahway, Memento Mori Society
- **From:** Las Vegas, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, University of Nevada, Reno
- **Known for:** Named Goldman Sachs 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs (2014), Scaled Zirtual to 400+ employees and $11M ARR before age 30, Speaker at Running Remote and ARCTIC15 conferences

## Career timeline

- **2003-2007** — Sold gemstone jewelry on eBay while at university, earning more than her part-time jobs combined; ran Lightstar Jewelry
- **2009-2011** — Launched a social marketing firm in Las Vegas, powered by offshore assistants and remote college students; started the 'Escaping the 9 to 5' blog
- **2011** — Co-founded Zirtual, a US-based virtual assistant marketplace connecting professionals with dedicated assistants
- **2014** — Named one of Goldman Sachs' 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs; Zirtual hits $11M ARR with 400+ employees
- **2015** — Zirtual collapsed overnight on August 9, 2015 after a $3M bridge round fell through; all 400 employees laid off via email; sold to Startups.co
- **2016** — Joined Calm as Interim COO to learn from a scaling company post-Zirtual
- **2018** — Founded Avra Talent, a boutique recruiting network for remote-first startups
- **2020** — Co-founded Inde.co, a virtual community for remote workers; launched 'Inde On Air' podcast
- **2021-2022** — Served as Head of Talent at Magic (remote executive assistant service)
- **2022-2024** — Operating Partner / People Operations consultant at Mahway, helping NYC/LA/SF startups build scalable People Ops
- **2024-present** — Founder of Zozy (home inventory app); writing at marenkate.com; exploring SMB acquisition and operational excellence consulting

## Achievements

- Named Goldman Sachs 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs (2014)
- Scaled Zirtual to 400+ employees and $11M ARR before age 30
- Speaker at Running Remote and ARCTIC15 conferences
- 4,300+ followers on Medium; contributor to Fortune, Inc., Entrepreneur
- Built Avra Talent into a profitable recruiting marketplace for remote-first startups
- Co-founded Inde.co, a community platform for distributed workers, launched during COVID-19 remote work surge

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — Published 'The RAD Framework: Reduce, Automate, Delegate' on marenkate.com
- **2025-03** — Writing about Operational Excellence Consulting on marenkate.com
- **2025-02** — Published 'How I GSD: A Productivity Framework' on marenkate.com
- **2024-01** — Active as founder of Zozy, an app to track everything you own with just a photo

## Links

- Website: https://marenkate.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marenkate/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/marenkate
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marenkate/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marenkatedonovan

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/maren-kate
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-27