Get live statistics and analysis of Cyrus Shirazi's profile on X / Twitter

The chief of @sequoia is quitting b/c venture is toast and the math doesn’t work anymore. Everyone keeps asking why so many top operators are stepping down from big jobs, leaving prestigious firms, or skipping the “career ladder” entirely to start their own companies. People want some conspiracy theory answer. But there’s a simpler explanation: The most important thing you need to build a generational company is an exceptional team. And it has never been harder to assemble one. Not because talent disappeared. But because all the exceptional people left to build their own companies. Twenty years ago, if you were a cracked engineer, you’d go join Google or Amazon, get a ridiculous comp package, stack your RSUs, and coast. That was the playbook. The smartest people went to the biggest companies because that’s where the upside lived. Today? - You can raise a pre-seed from your kitchen table. - You can ship a product in a weekend. - You can find customers on X, LinkedIn, Reddit, hell even TikTok The distribution is global from day one. Starting a company has never been easier. But because of that, keeping exceptional people has never been harder. It’s not ego, or pride, or impatience. It’s access. The people who would’ve spent 5–10 years “earning their stripes” at a big company don’t need to anymore. They were always going to build companies. Now they can just do it way quicker. I left @meow after basically a year to build my own company. Other early staff left and did the same. We found problems in a market we were passionate about and were raising capital in no time. This is happening everywhere. There’s so much more capital and opportunity in the ecosystem that the best people no longer feel the need to “wait their turn.” They don’t need the credibility badge. They don’t need the résumé. They don’t need permission. Which sounds great for innovation… but there’s a consequence no one is talking about: Talent is now fragmented across thousands of small companies instead of concentrated inside a few great ones. This means that we'll see way more companies succeed…but far fewer companies scale to generational size. Not because the ideas are bad. Not because the markets are small. But because the talent density isn’t there. The best founders in the world still need other exceptional people around them. You can’t brute force a generational company alone. And if all the best people are building their own thing, the firms (VC or otherwise) that rely on assembling an A+ team inside a single institution are screwed (kind of). They won’t get the returns they’re used to. Their bets won’t compound the way they did in the past. Because when access increases, concentration decreases. And when concentration decreases, generational outcomes become rarer. Everyone celebrates how easy it is to start something today. Nobody talks about how hard it is to build something great in a world where your best possible cofounder, early engineer, or right-hand operator is already off running their own startup. It’s not good or bad. It’s just the new reality. If you want to build something with longevity today, you need two things: 1. A mission that exceptional people are willing to pause their own ambitions for. 2. A culture so high-standard and so aligned that talent density becomes your moat. Everything else is noise.

I'm thrilled to announce that @usehaven has closed its Pre-seed and blown past $1 million in topline revenue 🚀 We've come a long way in a short time, achieving profitability within our first year and building an amazing team of 14 — and growing! If you haven’t heard of us, here’s three things you should know: 1. We launched Haven in 2023 to be the Accounting 2.0 for startups — a real, personable, world-class accounting firm made for founders, by founders. 2. Well over 50% of our growth is driven by organic referrals, warm introductions, and inbound leads. 3. We're honored to serve over 120 amazing startups, including @meshconnectapi, @withmartian, @coframe_ai, PastSight, @Parcl, @getsalesbricks, and @AbstractOpsCo to name a few! And now, we’re backed by some incredible humans, including… Institutionals: @APompliano aka Pomp (Business Mogul and Investor), @charliecfeng (cofounder of Clearco), @ericbahn (cofounder of Hustle Fund) and @MehreenNMalik (Founder ML Capital and cofounder of Humanism). Founders/Operators: @haridigresses (Former COO of Forge Global), @bamazizii (cofounder of Mesh), @everettcookny (cofounder of Rho), @laurynmotamedi (Isford) (Head of Growth at Notion), @aarthir (CTPO of Rithum), @spaldrich (Board Member of Xero), @obviceo (cofounder of Obi), @andrewztan (Founder of Nova), @brettcalhounn (Serial Founder), @nicoaferr (cofounder of Default), and many more. This funding will allow us to invest in a world-class customer experience, hire top talent, and fuel growth. To our customers, investors, team, and supporters: Thank you for believing in us. We couldn't do this without you. If you're a startup looking for a new kind of accounting experience, we'd love to chat. DM me or visit usehaven.com to learn more. Let's redefine accounting for startups 🚀

I had the pleasure of joining @APompliano on his podcast last week. Pomp is the man — it was an absolute blast chatting with him! 🙌 In 26 minutes, we covered: ✔️ The challenges startups face with traditional accounting firms ✔️ How Haven is revolutionizing accounting for

Excited to announce the new Haven Startup Series! 🚀 We're showcasing the incredible founders we work with every day. These are the people building the future. Why? Because there's no better way to learn than from those in the trenches. First up: @nicoaferr, Co-Founder & CEO of Default In this 3-minute episode, Nico breaks down: 1. His journey from parking software to AI-powered sales tools 2. Why he moved to NYC to build in-person 3. His vision for the next 10 million SaaS businesses Nico, thanks for kicking this off. You're a special kind of founder. Keep an eye out because we're dropping new episodes weekly. Hit the link to get notified when the next video drops. Let's cook 💪 usehaven.com/founder-series/

To all Bench customers affected by the shutdown: We know this is incredibly disruptive. Haven is here to support. And we'll handle the entire migration process for free and ensure your 2024 books are fully closed for free. Why choose @usehaven ? - 300+ happy customers - < 3-min average response times - Accounting and Tax team is ex Big 4 - We gladly work for you 7 days a week No fancy pitch. We're committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for you. Visit usehaven.com or DM me with any questions.

I’m super excited to announce the launch of @usehaven, a full stack accounting team for Startups and Growing businesses - helping them with bookkeeping, fractional cfo services, taxes, tax credits and more. Three things you should know about us below:

I'm thrilled to announce that @usehaven has closed its Pre-seed and blown past $1 million in topline revenue 🚀 We've come a long way in a short time, achieving profitability within our first year and building an amazing team of 14 — and growing! If you haven’t heard of us, here’s three things you should know: 1. We launched Haven in 2023 to be the Accounting 2.0 for startups — a real, personable, world-class accounting firm made for founders, by founders. 2. Well over 50% of our growth is driven by organic referrals, warm introductions, and inbound leads. 3. We're honored to serve over 120 amazing startups, including @meshconnectapi, @withmartian, @coframe_ai, PastSight, @Parcl, @getsalesbricks, and @AbstractOpsCo to name a few! And now, we’re backed by some incredible humans, including… Institutionals: @APompliano aka Pomp (Business Mogul and Investor), @charliecfeng (cofounder of Clearco), @ericbahn (cofounder of Hustle Fund) and @MehreenNMalik (Founder ML Capital and cofounder of Humanism). Founders/Operators: @haridigresses (Former COO of Forge Global), @bamazizii (cofounder of Mesh), @everettcookny (cofounder of Rho), @laurynmotamedi (Isford) (Head of Growth at Notion), @aarthir (CTPO of Rithum), @spaldrich (Board Member of Xero), @obviceo (cofounder of Obi), @andrewztan (Founder of Nova), @brettcalhounn (Serial Founder), @nicoaferr (cofounder of Default), and many more. This funding will allow us to invest in a world-class customer experience, hire top talent, and fuel growth. To our customers, investors, team, and supporters: Thank you for believing in us. We couldn't do this without you. If you're a startup looking for a new kind of accounting experience, we'd love to chat. DM me or visit usehaven.com to learn more. Let's redefine accounting for startups 🚀

To all Bench customers affected by the shutdown: We know this is incredibly disruptive. Haven is here to support. And we'll handle the entire migration process for free and ensure your 2024 books are fully closed for free. Why choose @usehaven ? - 300+ happy customers - < 3-min average response times - Accounting and Tax team is ex Big 4 - We gladly work for you 7 days a week No fancy pitch. We're committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for you. Visit usehaven.com or DM me with any questions.

I had the pleasure of joining @APompliano on his podcast last week. Pomp is the man — it was an absolute blast chatting with him! 🙌 In 26 minutes, we covered: ✔️ The challenges startups face with traditional accounting firms ✔️ How Haven is revolutionizing accounting for

Excited to announce the new Haven Startup Series! 🚀 We're showcasing the incredible founders we work with every day. These are the people building the future. Why? Because there's no better way to learn than from those in the trenches. First up: @nicoaferr, Co-Founder & CEO of Default In this 3-minute episode, Nico breaks down: 1. His journey from parking software to AI-powered sales tools 2. Why he moved to NYC to build in-person 3. His vision for the next 10 million SaaS businesses Nico, thanks for kicking this off. You're a special kind of founder. Keep an eye out because we're dropping new episodes weekly. Hit the link to get notified when the next video drops. Let's cook 💪 usehaven.com/founder-series/

The chief of @sequoia is quitting b/c venture is toast and the math doesn’t work anymore. Everyone keeps asking why so many top operators are stepping down from big jobs, leaving prestigious firms, or skipping the “career ladder” entirely to start their own companies. People want some conspiracy theory answer. But there’s a simpler explanation: The most important thing you need to build a generational company is an exceptional team. And it has never been harder to assemble one. Not because talent disappeared. But because all the exceptional people left to build their own companies. Twenty years ago, if you were a cracked engineer, you’d go join Google or Amazon, get a ridiculous comp package, stack your RSUs, and coast. That was the playbook. The smartest people went to the biggest companies because that’s where the upside lived. Today? - You can raise a pre-seed from your kitchen table. - You can ship a product in a weekend. - You can find customers on X, LinkedIn, Reddit, hell even TikTok The distribution is global from day one. Starting a company has never been easier. But because of that, keeping exceptional people has never been harder. It’s not ego, or pride, or impatience. It’s access. The people who would’ve spent 5–10 years “earning their stripes” at a big company don’t need to anymore. They were always going to build companies. Now they can just do it way quicker. I left @meow after basically a year to build my own company. Other early staff left and did the same. We found problems in a market we were passionate about and were raising capital in no time. This is happening everywhere. There’s so much more capital and opportunity in the ecosystem that the best people no longer feel the need to “wait their turn.” They don’t need the credibility badge. They don’t need the résumé. They don’t need permission. Which sounds great for innovation… but there’s a consequence no one is talking about: Talent is now fragmented across thousands of small companies instead of concentrated inside a few great ones. This means that we'll see way more companies succeed…but far fewer companies scale to generational size. Not because the ideas are bad. Not because the markets are small. But because the talent density isn’t there. The best founders in the world still need other exceptional people around them. You can’t brute force a generational company alone. And if all the best people are building their own thing, the firms (VC or otherwise) that rely on assembling an A+ team inside a single institution are screwed (kind of). They won’t get the returns they’re used to. Their bets won’t compound the way they did in the past. Because when access increases, concentration decreases. And when concentration decreases, generational outcomes become rarer. Everyone celebrates how easy it is to start something today. Nobody talks about how hard it is to build something great in a world where your best possible cofounder, early engineer, or right-hand operator is already off running their own startup. It’s not good or bad. It’s just the new reality. If you want to build something with longevity today, you need two things: 1. A mission that exceptional people are willing to pause their own ambitions for. 2. A culture so high-standard and so aligned that talent density becomes your moat. Everything else is noise.

Excited to announce I'll be speaking at BUILD Summit 2024 in a few weeks in NYC! Sharing the stage with some absolute legends: • Keith Rabois • Balaji Srinivasan • Aravind Srinivas • And many others The event is hosted by @APompliano, one of Haven's key investors. This won't be your typical conference. No fluff, no filler—just real talk on building, scaling, and innovating. Founders RSVP here: lu.ma/BUILDSummit24 See you there. Let's build 🔥

I’m super excited to announce the launch of @usehaven, a full stack accounting team for Startups and Growing businesses - helping them with bookkeeping, fractional cfo services, taxes, tax credits and more. Three things you should know about us below:

The Haven Startup Series continues! 🚀 We're back with another founder who's reshaping the future. This week: @chrishlad, Co-Founder & CEO of Hanover. Chris is only 26, but he's on a mission to unlock $10 trillion of private assets. In this 3-minute episode, Chris breaks down: • His journey from Goldman to startup CRO to founder • How Hanover is revolutionizing fund admin with AI • Why he believes "B2B SaaS is dead" • His take on work-life balance for founders "Work-life balance in your twenties is the easiest way to guarantee a mediocre career." Backed by Susa Ventures, Sahil Bloom, Hiten Shah, and more, Chris is all-in on building a multi-billion dollar company. Chris, thanks for jumping on, brother. You're building something special. New episodes dropping weekly. Hit the link below to get notified when the next one drops. Let's cook. usehaven.com/founder-series/