From childhood business projects to Mahway’s incubated companies, the executive redefines what true wealth means in business and life
NEW YORK – Jess Mah has been building companies since high school. 10+ companies later, many of which have been massively successful by conventional terms: number of employees, evaluation, magazine covers, and conference appearances. But Mah remembers the first time she stopped comparing herself to everyone else. It happened quietly, sitting alone and realizing none of that could compete with inner peace.
“I’m only competing with the previous version of myself,” Mah said. “I want to be clearer, more honest, and more aligned than I was the year before. That’s enough.”
Mah, now in her mid-thirties, has spent her life building. Her journey began in a small town outside New York City, where her parents, immigrants from Hong Kong, ran a modest clothing business but instilled in her the value of entrepreneurship and hard work. By 11, she launched her first business building, custom gaming computers for classmates.
At 13, Mah was selling computer parts on eBay. At 15, she finished high school. By 19, she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a computer science degree and co-founded inDinero, the accounting startup that placed her on Silicon Valley’s radar.
Mah quickly became known as a trailblazer. She was the youngest woman ever accepted into Y Combinator, the youngest to join YPO, and the youngest graduate of Harvard Business School’s Presidents’ Program. Each milestone added to her reputation as an unstoppable force in tech and entrepreneurship.
Building Mahway: A Legacy of Growth and Honest Leadership
Today, Mah is the founder of Mahway, her venture creation company that builds transformative businesses across fintech, biotech, AI, and litigation finance. Founded in 2021, Mahway’s team turns bold ideas into durable companies. Over her career, Mah has been on the founding team of 10+ companies and currently serves on five boards.
The path that made her successful also taught her that being a great entrepreneur requires more than drive and ambition. When asked what quality is most underestimated in founders, she paused before sharing what she has learned through each season of growth.
“Self-reflection and the ability to self-critique,” Mah said. “As we grow in our business and careers, we make mistakes along the way. And as our companies grow, the challenges and mistakes grow. Entrepreneurs might feel super confident when the company is small, but at the next size, you wonder, Am I really cut out for this. It is during that time that you are going through a growth edge. Do you have the ability to reflect on how you can change so you can get through that growth edge?”
Mah is pulled by good people and hard problems.
Jess Mah says she used to chase success at full speed as she hustled from dawn to dusk, and has the wrong idea of success. She wanted to show on social media a polished, impressive, curated life of admiration. But behind the highlight reels, her days told a different story.
Years ago, she began cutting away illusions. Most days she grabs $20 meals at food stalls that she chows down at her desk, and will grab the subway in between meetings. She navigates airports like everyone else and unwinds with her puppy. She avoids settling in one city, preferring to bounce between New York and San Francisco, pulled by good people and hard problems.
“The more I let go of comparisons, the more peace I’ve found,” she said. “Social media makes that hard. We scroll through carefully edited versions of other people’s lives and forget that what we’re seeing is the highlight reel.”
Watching her high-achieving friends burn out only deepened her resolve.
“Some of my most successful friends are also some of the most stressed,” she said. “They’ve built amazing things, but they’re running on empty. They’re constantly in motion, with very little space to think or breathe. I admire what they’ve built. But when I see a founder who hasn’t taken a weekend off in over a year, I know I don’t want that life.”
‘Relationships Are Built In Real Life’
Jess Mah believes relationships are the engine behind every great company she builds. Business, she says, is not won on spreadsheets alone but through genuine human connection. Her events and intimate dinner parties have seeded ventures, attracted investors, and forged lifelong partnerships.
“I’ve raised money, hired executives, and launched companies, all from the same place: my events and parties,” Mah said. “These moments compound in ways no spreadsheet ever could.”
This relationship-first mindset drives Mahway, her venture creation company with a portfolio spanning fintech, litigation finance, vertical SaaS, deep tech, the future of work, and healthcare. But Mah is not focused on fast exits or fleeting valuations. She starts companies that aim to break through and can transform humanity, from fintech platforms that create financial access to biotech research regrowing limbs on frogs and advancing bioelectricity to treat cancer without killing cells.
Her leadership today is defined by clarity and compassion.
“I tell people how much I believe in them,” she said. “If I give them feedback, it is because I care, not because I am angry.” She also coaches team members to define personal life goals alongside business goals, believing that healthy, growing people build healthy, growing companies.
Jess Mah Loves to Challenge the Status Quo
Mahway is a tool to create companies that make a difference, Mah says. She is using her company to build more than a dozen ventures spanning fintech, biotech, AI, and litigation finance.
“Everything I do professionally is used to starting or growing companies,” she shared in a recent interview. “I have also personally backed so many amazing founders. The ability to invest in what you want to do – that is ultimately what matters.”
She rejects the idea that success is merely defined by a full cash-out exit. Instead, she values good relationships and the ability to build long-term businesses.
“I learned from a guy who runs a massive family office that wealth should be devoted to manifesting what you want to create in your life,” Mah shared. “What will make you feel fulfilled? What will make you feel like you’re advancing the world and doing interesting things?”
At Mahway, her focus is clear. She builds durable companies that create a positive impact while generating wealth for founders and investors. Her team works alongside entrepreneurs to turn bold ideas into lasting enterprises. Mah says entrepreneurs should play the long game, not the venture game.
Creating Companies That Matter
Jess Mah is clear about what success means to her. It’s about purpose. She leans on her family, friends, and boyfriend to keep her grounded.
Her focus now is on building companies that stand the test of time and create real value for founders, investors, and the world. Since launching Mahway, she has learned that doing less can achieve more.
“I made the critical mistake of trying to go too wide and too broad too soon,” Mah said. “Since then, I have dramatically narrowed in on only a few things where I have more conviction of where I can win.”
Whether she is speaking on stage, consulting, or mentoring founders, Mah’s life is defined by intentional choices. She moves with clarity and freedom, no longer chasing someone else’s definition of achievement.
She has spent years learning from those ahead of her, only to discover that true success is not about endless competition. It is about creating something that will continue to grow and impact lives long after she is gone.
“As a leader, I hope to leave a legacy around the companies we build, but as a person, I hope to leave a legacy as an example for others that you can and should have a great personal life alongside a great career,” she said.
In the end, Mah knows her greatest investment is not in the spotlight but in a future shaped by the work she leaves behind.
