# Waseem Daher

> Waseem Daher is the San Francisco-based co-founder and executive chair of Pilot. An MIT-trained engineer, he previously co-founded Ksplice, acquired by Oracle in 2011, and Zulip, acquired by Dropbox in 2014. His work combines software, accounting services, and practical advice for founders through Startup Real Talk.

- **Role:** Co-founder and Executive Chair at Pilot
- **Organizations:** Pilot, Ksplice, Zulip, Oracle, Dropbox
- **Education:** Undergraduate degree in computer science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Master of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Co-founded Ksplice, which won the 2009 MIT $100K competition and was acquired by Oracle in 2011., Co-founded Zulip, acquired by Dropbox in 2014 and released as open source in 2015., Co-founded Pilot, which reached a $1.2 billion funding valuation in March 2021.

## Career timeline

- **2007** — Completed his undergraduate education at MIT.
- **2008** — Completed an MIT MEng; co-founded Ksplice, serving as COO.
- **2009** — Ksplice won the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition.
- **2011** — Oracle acquired Ksplice on July 21.
- **2012** — Co-founded the business chat company Zulip.
- **2014** — Dropbox acquired Zulip; Daher subsequently worked there as a product manager.
- **2017** — Launched Pilot with Jeff Arnold and Jessica McKellar, initially doing customers’ bookkeeping by hand.
- **2021** — Pilot’s Series C expanded to $100 million at a $1.2 billion valuation.
- **2025** — Public interviews identified Daher as executive chair of Pilot.
- **2026** — Pilot launched Meridian for accounting firms on June 16.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Ksplice, which won the 2009 MIT $100K competition and was acquired by Oracle in 2011.
- Co-founded Zulip, acquired by Dropbox in 2014 and released as open source in 2015.
- Co-founded Pilot, which reached a $1.2 billion funding valuation in March 2021.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Pilot launched Meridian, opening its accounting automation to other firms; its announcement named Jessica McKellar as CEO.

## Links

- Website: https://www.waseemdaher.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdaher
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/waseem
- GitHub: https://github.com/wdaher

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/waseem-daher
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-11