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Z Squared
Joe Zadeh, Airbnb's former VP of Product, runs Z Squared, a Los Angeles family office deploying operator capital into early-stage tech since 2021.
Z Squared
Z Squared formed in 2021, shortly after Airbnb's blockbuster December 2020 IPO unlocked significant liquidity for early employee Joe Zadeh. Zadeh, who joined Airbnb in 2010 as its ninth employee and rose to VP of Product, co-founded the firm with Alexandra Zatarain, herself a startup operator and brand builder. The entity channels the Zadeh-Zatarain household wealth, marking a generational shift where operator-liquidity — rather than inherited industrial or financial-services fortunes — seeds the family office structure. The firm targets early-stage venture across enterprise software, AI/ML, climate technology, consumer platforms, and proptech. Z Squared makes both direct investments and participates in seed through Series A rounds, leveraging Zadeh's product-building network and Airbnb alumni connections. Known portfolio holdings include Culdesac, a car-free real estate developer that raised $30 million in a round Z Squared joined (per TechCrunch, 2022), and Atmosphere, a streaming TV platform for businesses. The geographic emphasis skews heavily toward US-based startups, particularly in the Bay Area and Los Angeles ecosystems. Team size and total deployed capital remain undisclosed, consistent with a flexible single-family office that does not solicit external investors. The Los Angeles base reflects a broader diaspora of tech wealth migrating south from Silicon Valley, with Zadeh and Zatarain joining a growing contingent of operators-turned-investors in the region. In April 2023, Z Squared participated in Culdesac's expansion announcement alongside a new $20 million funding round (per Business Insider, 2023), signaling continued follow-on conviction in its portfolio themes. The firm's structural differentiator is its operator-lens: Zadeh spent a decade scaling product at one of the defining platform companies of the 2010s, and Z Squared functions as an extension of that practitioner mindset, often providing portfolio companies with product-strategy counsel that resembles venture-studio advisory rather than passive LP capital. There is no disclosed multi-generational architecture or external advisory board, which positions Z Squared as a direct reflection of its principals' personal network and thesis.
General information
Firm type
Single Family Office
Year founded
2021
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Los Angeles
Corporate office
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Principals
Alexandra Zatarain
Co-Founder
Joe Zadeh
Co-Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Where does Z Squared's capital come from?
The majority of Z Squared's capital originates from Joe Zadeh's equity in Airbnb, where he was the ninth employee and served as VP of Product until 2019. Airbnb's December 2020 IPO provided the liquidity event that funded the family office's 2021 launch. Co-founder Alexandra Zatarain also brings entrepreneurial liquidity from her own operating career.
Does Z Squared invest in funds or only direct deals?
Z Squared primarily executes direct investments into early-stage companies, consistent with a practitioner-led single-family office that values proximity to operators. There is no public record of the firm committing capital as a limited partner into traditional venture funds, though this does not preclude selective fund relationships the principals have chosen not to disclose.
How does Z Squared source its investment opportunities?
Deal flow derives heavily from Joe Zadeh's decade-plus network at Airbnb and the broader Silicon Valley product and engineering community. Alexandra Zatarain's consumer-brand and startup-operating network provides a complementary sourcing channel. The firm does not publicize a formal sourcing process, suggesting a relationship-driven, inbound-referral model typical of operator-family offices.
Who makes investment decisions at Z Squared?
Investment decisions are made by co-founders Joe Zadeh and Alexandra Zatarain. Z Squared does not employ a public-facing investment committee structure or list external advisors, indicating a compact, principal-level decision-making process. The firm has no disclosed investment professionals beyond the two co-founders.
Is Z Squared structured as a venture capital firm or a family office?
Z Squared is a single-family office, meaning it deploys the principals' personal capital and does not manage third-party LP funds. However, its concentrated early-stage direct investment model and operator-advisory posture functionally resemble a venture studio, blurring the line between pure family office and institutional venture capital.
What is Z Squared's relationship to Airbnb?
Z Squared has no formal operating or investment relationship with Airbnb. The connection is biographical: Joe Zadeh was an early and influential employee at Airbnb from 2010 through 2019, and his equity in the company provided the capital base for Z Squared. Some of the firm's network effects and portfolio sourcing benefit from Zadeh's Airbnb alumni ties, but the firm operates independently.
Does Z Squared disclose its AUM or total deployment?
Z Squared has not publicly disclosed assets under management or cumulative capital deployed. As a single-family office with no external investors, it is under no regulatory obligation to do so. The firm's scale is a function of Airbnb equity value at and after the December 2020 IPO, but no precise figure has been confirmed by the firm.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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