joseph zakher
founder, author and AI-native product designer in tokyo.
i work with health-tech and AI founders, build products of my own, and share what i learn through joyful journey, my weekly newsletter.
we’re living through a shift in who gets to make things. the distance between an idea and something real is shrinking. with curiosity, judgment, and new tools, one person can now design, build, and share what once required a full team.
that’s why i believe everyone is a founder. not everyone needs to start a company. you might be shaping a product, a practice, a community, a family, or a life. founding is the act of taking responsibility for what should exist—and beginning before the path is obvious.
i’m trying to live that belief too: building small things, learning in public, and creating work that supports life rather than consuming it.
what are you founding?
with love, joseph
following the making of designing sleep? join joyful journey →
11 years designing and building products for founders, from beirut to dubai to tokyo: a mix of embedded consulting through my studio and ventures of my own. here's a brief overview.
startup uia small senior design studio working with health-tech and AI founders building from japan to the world.
zunou AIdesigning the workspace where people and AI agents work as one team, and leading go-to-market from tokyo.
nova nuggetsdesigning AI systems and workflows that help teams put intelligence to work.
CMEconsulted on UI design for enterprise software applications serving more than 5 million users.
keypersimplifying property ownership and management in dubai.
SE factorytaught a 7-week UX bootcamp covering user research, interaction design, prototyping, and usability testing, guiding students through hands-on projects.
donorboxredesigned peachpay into checkya, growing monthly cash flow from $5,000 to $100,000.
anachron technologiesdesigned the anachron website and 5+ fintech products: roboadvisors, planners, dashboards, and a trading extension.
qiosk.iobuilt an e-commerce platform supporting lebanese businesses through the crisis.
districtdesigned and shipped the mycolors app, reaching more than 50k users per month.
it started in 2015 with robotics competitions and the follow me suitcase, an award-winning build, then a computer science degree, then design full-time.
weekly field notes from Tokyo on building products, healthier systems, and a meaningful life.
delivered via substack at zakher.substack.com
"StartUp UI played an important role in shaping one of AstroLabs' key digital products."
andrii · astrolabs
"I would confidently recommend Joseph and the StartUp UI team if you are looking for a reliable product design partner."
joe · astrolabs
i grew up in lebanon and learned design the hard way: building e-commerce for small businesses while the economy collapsed around us. that season taught me what design is for. it keeps a shop open, a family paid, a product alive.
the work carried me from beirut to dubai to tokyo: fintech in the gulf, products for founders across the US and japan, and eventually startup ui, the studio i run today. somewhere along the way the theme became obvious: the products i care most about help people live well.
my mission is to help people live healthier, wiser, and more connected lives, through software that feels calm instead of demanding.
my values are simple: craft over volume, which is why i keep a small roster of founders. calm over noise, which is why my work leans quiet and minimal. and health over hustle, which is why i design sleep, food, and wellness products, and try to live by what i ship.
away from client work, you’ll find me writing about sleep (my first book, designing sleep, launches late october 2026), exploring japan, or studying the intersection of design, technology, and human potential.
i work with 2 to 4 founders at a time as an embedded design partner and fractional founding designer. the fastest way to reach me: book a call. or send a message via the form below.
