Pau Grabuleda

How big would you dream, if you knew you couldn’t fail? | Growth & AI builder. @taxwire_inc prev. @Abacum_AI (YC) @MorganStanley

[Pau Grabuleda @GrabuledaPau]

@andrew__rea who said sales tax is boring?

[Alex Reyes @alexreyescripto]

Llevo 5 meses obsesionado con la IA.

No para vender cursos. No para montar una "agencia de IA".

Para usarla de verdad en mis negocios.

He montado un segundo cerebro, agentes que trabajan mientras duermo y sistemas que han cambiado cómo trabajo.

Os cuento cómo empezó 🧵👇

[Andrew Rea @andrew__rea]

Today we announce raising our Series A and $25M in total funding to do more of the work for the hundreds of companies that trust us with their sales tax and the thousands more we want to serve.

Indirect tax is the least sexy, biggest problem in almost every company that sells anything. In the US, businesses remit over $600B in sales tax a year. Globally it's ~$5 trillion in VAT.

It never goes away. It only gets bigger.

And it lands on people who never signed up for it.

Your controller. Your VP of Finance. Your CFO.

[Rem Koning @orgRem]

🤖Excited to share a new working paper.🤖

The phrase "AI-Native firms" it everywhere, but are they any different? Is it just hype?

In our new paper we show AI ventures are organized differently, but not for the reasons you think.

[Will Ahmed @willahmed]

You have no experience.
You’ve never started a company.
You’ve never had a full time job.
Nike is going to kill you.
You’re a kid.
You don’t have technical skills.
You shouldn’t build hardware.
Apple is going to kill you.
You can’t build hardware.
You can’t measure heart rate non-invasively.
Athletes don’t care about recovery.
Under Armour is going to kill you.
It won’t be accurate.
You don’t listen.
You’re an ineffective leader.
You can’t recruit great talent.
You’re going to have to pay every athlete.
You can’t measure sleep non-invasively.
It’s too expensive to research.
Athletes are a small market.
The product costs too much to make.
The product costs too much to sell.
Your valuation is too high.
Consumers aren’t going to want it.
Hardware is too hard.
You should measure steps.
Fitbit is going to kill you.
You can’t build a marketing engine.
You can’t raise enough money.
You need a real CEO.
Google is going to kill you.
You can’t be a subscription.
You can’t build a brand.
You can’t do consumer in Boston.
Your valuation is too high.
You shouldn’t make accessories.
You shouldn’t make apparel.
Lululemon is going to kill you.
You can’t predict Covid.
Stay in your niche.
You are going to run out of money.
You can’t build a health platform.
Amazon is going to kill you.
You can’t measure blood pressure.
You can’t get medical approvals.
The market is too small.
You don’t understand AI.
The market is too competitive.
It won’t work internationally.
The supply chain is too complicated.
You can’t build an AI.
You can’t raise enough money.
It’s too competitive.
Healthcare isn’t going to want it.
…

Just keep going ✌️

[Julien Bek @JulienBek]

https://t.co/hsKrbn1gEq

[Pau Grabuleda @GrabuledaPau]

@Jacobsklug @openclaw @Lovable OS

[Jack Zhang @awxjack]

Stripe offered to acquire us for $1.2 billion when we had $2M in revenue.

Today, we've raised $330M at an $8B valuation and reached $1B ARR.

We could've died three times during this journey.

This is the story I've never told anyone before:

[Pau Grabuleda @GrabuledaPau]

@GJarrosson YC

[Pau Grabuleda @GrabuledaPau]

@guilleflorvs FOUNDER

[Ivan Landabaso @IvanLandabaso]

bcn ftw

[Colossus @colossusmag]

Ramtin Naimi started a successful hedge fund at 19, went bankrupt at 24, and then built a $1.8 billion venture firm backed by investing icons like Stanley Druckenmiller, @pmarca, and @BillAckman.

Michael Ovitz calls Naimi his “non-biological son.” Founders say he’s “the most important person you’ll meet.” Silicon Valley has begun to whisper about him as the man with “the hot hand.”

For the first time ever, we’re excited to share the remarkable story of a 34-year-old whose CV reads like no other investor’s in Silicon Valley.

@ramtinnaimi does not have a college degree, his Iranian immigrant parents had little money, he founded a failed startup that led to bankruptcy, and the only normal job he’s ever had was working weekends at West Elm, the furniture store.

What Naimi does possess, however, is supernatural hustle, pattern recognition, and a chip on his shoulder more valuable than any credential.

He made $500,000 as an 18-year-old trading options through the global financial crisis, his first-ever venture investment is now valued at $11 billion, and two years after going bankrupt, a list of finance titans bought 20% of his nascent early-stage venture firm, Abstract, for $10 million.

Today, Abstract manages $1.8 billion and has a simple value proposition: It is the best firm in the world at getting founders from seed to Series A.

Stories from @gsivulka, @shreyamurthy, and @krea_ai’s Victor Perez all testify to Naimi’s special talent at orchestrating fundraising rounds, luring legendary investors out of their offices to meet his founders at unusual times.

Even his peers talk about it in tones of admiration. Andreessen Horowitz GP @illscience said, “Ramtin’s got a knack for being around all the most important deals. Whenever he says something is important, we take it incredibly seriously.”

For the full, improbable story of Ramtin Naimi’s journey from insolvency to influence, read @domcooke's profile, linked below.

It is complete with detail on how he became best friends with Michael Ovitz and @kevinhartz, how he lives in his dream home that he first saw at 18, but, most of all, how he built what @DavidSacks called, “an elite early-stage firm.”

[Packy McCormick @packyM]

Something I've been thinking and reading a ton about is the idea that as means grow, meaning seems to shrink.

Technology creates means, but we shouldn’t expect it to create meaning. It can create the space for us to create meaning, but actually creating meaning is up to us.

Modern philosophers like Byung-Chul Han and Baudrillard diagnose the disease brilliantly, but kind of throw their hands up wrt the solution.

I think David Foster Wallace and @nayafia point to the solution. It has something to do with paying attention.

This is the great challenge of the modern era, and of all future eras: to shrink the gap between means and meaning as our means continue to grow.

[Pau Grabuleda @GrabuledaPau]

@chrischae__ AI

[Packy McCormick @packyM]

Guys it is very important that you resist Vibes. Disable your parents’ phones if they tell you they’re using Vibes. Make fun of your friends relentlessly until they stop using Vibes. Fire employees caught watching Vibes.

We’re better than this. Cmon.

[Pau Grabuleda @GrabuledaPau]

🚀🚀

[Julio Martínez @JULIOMARTINEZG]

Thrilled to announce that @Abacum_ai has raised a $60m Series B led by @scalevp with strong participation from @Cathayinnov.

[Crunchbase News @crunchbasenews]

The Founder’s Office, which acts as a bridge between the founders and the rest of the organization, is becoming essential for rapid growth, writes guest author Julio Martínez of Abacum, who shares four reasons why every high-growth startup needs one.
https://t.co/oqHWFGdx9Y

[Dear Son. @DearS_o_n]

The goal is neverrrrrrrr gucci bags. It's acres of land.

[Pau Grabuleda @GrabuledaPau]

@BillAckman LFG - a change is needed!!

[Bill Ackman @BillAckman]

Tennis appears to be a glamorous sport for well-compensated athletes. The reality is a loss-making, health-threatening grind for all but the top 100 or so players.

The failure of the sport to provide for the basic needs and rights of the players is due to the corrupt leadership and monopolistic behavior of the tennis cartel — the @atptour, the @WTA, the ITF, and the ITIA. They have abused their market power at the expense of the players who, until the @ptpaplayers, had no way to organize to protect and defend their collective interests.

@DjokerNole (and my good friend Rebecca Macdonald) recruited me to this effort after he and @VasekPospisil launched the PTPA. The more I learned about the business of the sport I love, the more I understood the need for dramatic change to occur.

These lawsuits and the resulting judicial outcomes will revolutionize tennis for the players and create much greater opportunities for the most talented —regardless of their socioeconomic background — to make a living from the game. This will greatly improve the competitiveness of the sport, which will make for an even better fan experience.

As an active market participant and investor in the rough and tumble corporate world, I have never seen such abusive and anticompetitive activities and behavior. This corruption and abuse have been allowed to metastasize in tennis because of the power dynamics of the sport.

Young aspiring athletes focused on winning their next match — without the benefit of a team’s backing, with little understanding of the law and without relevant business experience — have been pitted against well-capitalized monopolists captured by monied interests. The time for this to stop is now.

Allez!