Welcoming Jo Zhu, Head of PearX

We’re excited to announce that Jo Zhu has joined Pear to lead PearX operations and invest on the consumer side! With a product background at Uber, Cameo, and DoorDash and investing experience at a16z, we are thrilled to have Jo on the team. 

Jo embodies all that we are at Pear: passionate operator, people-first investor, and jack of all trades. She is a skilled and seasoned product leader— her resume includes launching the new verticals product team at DoorDash, where she expanded the delivery app into “non-food” categories (grocery, convenience, and retail), growth and recipient experience at Cameo, and driver pricing and incentives at Uber. Most recently, Jo invested at the intersection of consumer and crypto at a16z. 

Jo first met the Pear team as a part of the W20 YCombinator batch, then joined us as a Pear Fellow while getting her joint MBA and M. Ed at Stanford. She was hooked on the Pear mentality. 

“A lot of people care about what the TAM is for any particular industry or problem. For me, if there is strong founder market fit, they will create a new market.”

As an early-stage firm, we have to be people focused. The people build the product, and knowing how to help the people is what defines great early-stage investing.

“What is the core problem you’re solving, and what are the features that you’re going to build to solve that? Together, we can craft a brand new space.”

As the Head of PearX, Jo will be in the trenches with founders from day one— riffing on GTM strategies, synthesizing key user problems, isolating for key metrics, and advising on growth, process, hiring, and fundraising. Her goal is to help founders avoid making mistakes she has learned the hard way, and to share practical and operational advice to build a business that is meaningful and enduring over time.

As an investor, Jo strives to open doors and dismantle structural inequities to make room at the table for diverse and underrepresented founders. She invests in platforms that bring convenience, collaboration, and community to everyday life that bridge the digital and the physical world.
Interested in connecting with Jo? Reach out at jo@pear.vc or on Twitter @joandthezhus.