Zach Waterfield

Enigma
DISC Type : idc

Senior Venture Partner at Pioneer Fund

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Overview

Zach Waterfield is an investor and engineer with a background in Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo. He holds roles as a Senior Venture Partner at Pioneer Fund and Venture Partner at Ripple Ventures, focusing on devtools, AI, and B2B SaaS. Previously, he was an engineer at PostHog and co-founded Kopa, a YC-backed startup.

Originally from Canada, Zach is an avid traveler who has lived in cities like Lima, San Francisco, and Toronto. He is passionate about endurance sports and is currently training for his first Ironman, which involves swimming, biking, and running. He also enjoys good coffee, building products, and connecting with passionate people.

He has made over 50 investments through personal checks, scout checks, and an AngelList syndicate he co-manages.

Personality Overview

Fast Follower

Hard To Convince

Friendly Yet Blunt

They are likely to ask many questions and look heavily for supporting proof as well as information.  They can sound friendly and charming but can quickly change gears to become inquisitive and probing  They are generally strong communicators and are not easy to convince.

Topics They Care About

Early-Stage Investing
He is a Senior Venture Partner at Pioneer Fund, a Venture Partner at Ripple Ventures, and runs a syndicate on AngelList, focusing on pre-seed and seed-stage companies.
Founder Mentorship
Helps founders with product strategy, fundraising, engineering, and early startup operations, having assisted over 100 companies with YC prep and deck reviews.
Devtools and AI
His investment focus with Ripple Ventures and Pioneer Fund is on developer tools, AI, and B2B SaaS companies.

Media Appearances

Zach has no verified media appearances

Work History

3-2022
Senior Venture Partner at Pioneer Fund
11-2021 - 3-2022
Venture Partner at Pioneer Fund
5-2023
Venture Partner at Ripple Ventures
9-2020
Angel Investor at Startups
2-2024 - 11-2025
Product Engineer & Team Lead at PostHog

Education

2013 - 2018
Computer Engineering from University of Waterloo
Education details unavailable from Y Combinator

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 5 Location : Toronto, Ontario, Canada Job Level : N/A Designation : Senior Venture Partner at Pioneer Fund
URL has been copied!

Insights For Selling To Zach

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Let them lead the discussion, create opportunities for them to speak if they are not very forthcoming
  • Use phrases like ‘clear evidence’, ‘data-based results’ etc.
  • Build rapport slwly without rushing, it will come handy to handle hard questions later

DONT's

  • Don’t rely excessively on your relationship with them to win the deal even if you come to form one
  • Don’t be too objective but make sure to pad your storytelling with data points
  • Don’t brush off any concerns, take all questions seriously. They are easily deterred

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Zach is

  • Proven value, strong objective evidence are important for them, rapport can impact decisions a little.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Zach

  • They are practical and friendly, but can give a clear response with a little prodding

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Zach move?

  • They like to be detailed, so unless they develop strong conviction, they can take their time to arrive at decisions
  • Can Zach take some risk or not?

  • They evaluate their decisions systematically and do not take risks that often, unless you can get them to develop strong conviction

You And Zach

Personality Compatibility


Other Pioneer Fund Employees

Explore more public profiles from related professionals at the same organization.

More Profiles

Discover additional public profiles from our index.

Search more profiles

Looking for someone else? Search here for anyone.

Or visit Humantic AI to know more.