AI agents can now start real businesses. @Meow lets your AI agent form a company, get an EIN, open a bank account, issue cards, and move money in a single prompt. Works with Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, Gemini, and more. The first end-to-end company builder for agents.

I watched every single Jeff Bezos interview. He says the same word 100s of times. And it’s the only obsession that matters:

Bezos says "customer" 16 times in this interview. That's why Amazon wins. Now replace "Internet" with "Web3" Imagine a Web3 founder saying: "I don't care if we're considered a Web3 company. I care about delivering the best customer experience." Does any Web3 company say this?

Today, he's the CEO of a $1.8 trillion company. In 1993, he was just another middle manager doing Excel demos. Satya Nadella worked at Microsoft for 22 years. He climbed the ladder. And is worth ~$700 million today. There are many ways to win.

I found a $19 billion startup that began by accident. Here's the story of WhatsApp (and how 1 Apple update changed everything)👇

5 traps to avoid when working at a big company:

Sam Altman warned us: “Everyone thinks you can hire someone to do this." "That fails 100% of the time." A board of directors won't cut it. The secret to building a generational company, according to him? The founder doing this every day:

I watched every single Jeff Bezos interview. He says the same word 100s of times. And it’s the only obsession that matters:

Sam Altman knew: Bad things happen to you in business. The most important trait for an entrepreneur, according to him? He's showing it now:

When I graduated college, my plan was: - Start at a big company (~5,000) - Then work at a smaller one (~50) - Then join as an early employee (~8) - Then start my own Here’s why and what I learned along the way:

Jeff Bezos was scared. In 1997, Barnes & Noble opened their online store. Amazon had 125 employees. B&N had 30,000. Amazon had $60 million in sales B&N had $3 billion. Jeff: “It was so scary for us” Obviously, he crushed them. How? He focused on this instead:

Who should you want as your manager? The person who *doesn't want* to be your manager.

"Be a doer, not a talker." Sam Altman proved it: The doers won. The talkers lost. Within a week of getting ousted as CEO of OpenAI: — 710/770 employees threatened to quit — Sam gets reinstated as CEO — The board that ousted him gets fired. Why would this be inevitable, according to Sam? Because history belongs to these people:

Jeff Bezos was scared. In 1997, Barnes & Noble opened an online store. Amazon had 125 employees. B&N had 30,000. Amazon had $60 million in sales. B&N had $3 billion. @JeffBezos: “It was so scary for us.” Obviously, he crushed them. How? He focused on this instead:

"People think creating a company is going to be fun." Elon Musk knows: Entrepreneurship isn't for the faint of heart. The key to being a great founder? Embrace this:

In 2013, Jeff Bezos called his shot: "Amazon delivery to your door in 30 minutes". How? Drones. Jeff thought it'd take 5 years. It took 10. But it's finally here. This week, Prime Air is live in California and Texas. Long-term thinking connects all world-class companies.

In 2006, Apple unveiled the “Get a Mac” commercials. It was one of Apple’s most successful campaigns. It led to a 39% increase in sales. And now? Justin Long, the spokesperson for Mac, is now a PC.

"People get stress wrong all the time." "Stress doesn't come from hard work!" The secret to conquering stress, according to Jeff Bezos? Take this action:

2. Tribal knowledge Big companies are full of legacy tech. And custom-built internal tooling. These are skills you can't bring anywhere else. If you're not careful, you'll only be an expert at THEIR systems. Focus on building both internal AND transferable expertise.

Today, he's the CEO of a $2.1 trillion company. In 1993, he was just another middle manager doing Excel demos. Satya Nadella worked at Microsoft for 22 years. He climbed the ladder. And is worth $700 million today. There are many ways to win.

At 30, Jeff Bezos left a cushy hedge fund job to start an online bookstore. Why? "I don't want to be 80 years old thinking back over my life and cataloging a bunch of major regrets." Love this clip on Jeff's Regret Minimization framework for life:

5. Lack of recognition You should be recognized for 70% of all the work you do. If you expect to be recognized for 100% of your work, you're likely not a team player. If you're recognized for _less_ than 70% of your work, you're being taken for granted. And being underpaid.

"How do you deal with burnout as a founder?"

At 30, Jeff Bezos quit a cushy hedge fund job to start an online bookstore. Why? "I don't want to be 80 years old thinking back over my life and cataloging a bunch of major regrets." Here is Jeff's Regret Minimization framework:

4. Getting raises, not readjustments If you're a top performer at your company, best case, you get a 7% raise each year. Even if they should, companies don't adjust people's pay by 50%. If you were to switch jobs, you might see that 50% boost.

The iPod put 1,000 songs in your pocket. Does Steve Jobs talk about gigabytes of storage? Of course not. He knew the only marketing tip that matters: Sell outcomes, not features.

1. Being someone's lieutenant If you're good, someone at the company will try to collect you. They’ll imply that loyalty to them will fast-track your career. They have a few followers already in their trap. Avoid them. They will never let you excel past them.

Elon Musk was broke. Despite this, he turned down the hamster wheel of academia. More scholarships. More stipends. More studies. Instead, he lived like a rat and started building. Don't bet against people who see the real prize:

Want to win at entrepreneurship? Brains and connections aren't enough. The most important trait is often overlooked. Take it from Sam Altman:

"I don't think you're born with it!" Before Tim Cook went to Apple, people called him crazy. He was at Compaq, the top PC company in the world. And he considered throwing it all away to join Apple. "I couldn't get the chart to say what I wanted!" The lesson for every entrepreneur? You must overcome this struggle:

I watched every single Jeff Bezos interview. And I haven’t laughed so hard in a while.

In 1993, Satya Nadella was just another middle manager doing Excel demos. Today, Sam Altman works for him. It took 22 years of climbing the ladder at Microsoft, but Nadella is now the global face of the AI revolution. There are many ways to win.

"People think creating a company is going to be fun." Elon Musk knows: Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. The key to being a great founder? Embrace this:

3. Falling for perks Snacks in the office cost the company nothing. Dry cleaning costs the company nothing. Flying you to Denver and getting you a hotel room costs the company nothing. In your head, you're likely pricing these perks as worth $40k. Don't fall for that.

"Everyone thinks you can hire someone to do this." "That fails 100% of the time." The secret to building a successful startup, according to Sam Altman? Doing this every day:

In 1993, he was just another middle manager doing Excel demos. Today, he's Google's biggest threat. "I want people to know that we made them dance." Get out of Satya Nadella's way. He's just getting started:

I told our investors we’d be worth more than FTX one day. None believed me.

In 1993, he was a middle manager at Microsoft giving Excel demos. 22 years later, he became the CEO. Satya Nadella on the view from the top:

What makes a company succeed, according to Satya Nadella? It's not product. It's not distribution. It's something entrepreneurs often underrate:

5 reasons to work at a big company before starting one yourself:

I found the mindset that builds trillion dollar companies. Here's the answer from @elonmusk:

Sam Altman was surprised! The successful companies in his portfolio? They all followed the same strategy. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Narrow your focus. Start small. Win big.

Facebook, Snap and TikTok won the 2010s. But the next $100 billion startups will look more like Stripe than Meta. Here’s the breakdown👇

A decentralized app is when your web application running on AWS communicates with the Ethereum blockchain running on AWS.

When Elon Musk started Zip2, he could only afford one computer. The website ran during the day. He coded all night. Despite that, in 1999 Elon sold Zip2 for $307mm. He made $22 million.

Want to win at entrepreneurship? Brains and connections aren't enough. The most important trait is often overlooked. Take it from Sam Altman:

Jeff Bezos calls this "the best advice he can give." And it's topical. "Whenever you try to catch a wave, you're almost always too late." Never paddle after a wave. Instead, put yourself in position. Wait. And let the wave catch you.

ANNOUNCEMENT: @Meow is profitable! 🙌 And our plan is to never raise from VCs again. WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT? Meow is a low-margin company. We believe financial services are a commodity. Hitting profitability as a low-margin company means our business model is sustainable. And what's the point of never raising from VCs again? The venture capital treadmill is how great companies die. Raising. Answering to VCs. Hiring to show growth. Raising at a higher valuation. Jacking up prices. We refuse to fall into that trap. Meow is profitable, with the vast majority of our $22m Series A from May 2022 unspent. Thank you so much to our customers. Your support is our lifeblood and has made this possible. Now, we go back to the infinite game. Financial services is a ~$16 trillion industry. Don't underestimate the power of compounding.

Working at a startup? Make sure you see this from the founders. If you have even a moment's doubt, run away:

I avoided these traps at big companies. Smaller ones face them too. Follow me @arvanaghi as I share the story of going from a big company, to a smaller one, to a tiny one, to starting @JoinMeow.

November 3rd is a critical day for our country. If all goes well, it will mark 100 days of Bitcoin being priced above $10,000.

Hire for: 1. Trust 2. Enthusiasm You can teach everything else.

The founders that build trillion dollar companies? They find motivation from the same place:

"I'm really looking for one thing!” Jeff Bezos buys companies big and small. How does he know which ones will succeed? The founders share this quality:

Apple is the greatest cult in the world. And every cult needs a place to meet. Welcome to the Apple Store. Here's how Steve Jobs built the most profitable retail stores of all time👇

Here's a sandbox detection library I wrote in every language (PowerShell, Python, Go, Ruby, C#).... Checks include: • # of USBs ever mounted • Is sleep() accelerated? • # of Windows Updates installed • Wait for a certain # of clicks before running github.com/Arvanaghi/CheckPl…

Success boils down to pain tolerance. Imagine everyone is running on a treadmill. Who wins the race? Will Smith has the answer:

The Sichuan miner shutdown is bullish for #Bitcoin. • ASICs flow from China to Texas & Florida • Skilled jobs surge in those states • States double down on pro-Bitcoin stance An ASIC in the U.S. is more difficult to shut down than one in China. Bitcoin is now more resilient.

BIG COMPANY A big company is a multi-billion dollar company for a reason. They do one thing better than everyone else. Find what that thing is. Study it. Master it. Now *you* carry that billion dollar competency with you. At the big company, make sure you learn that thing.

Lack of social life mostly

"People think creating a company is going to be fun." Elon Musk knows: Entrepreneurship isn't for the faint of heart. The key to being a great founder? Embrace this:

In 2005, Steve Jobs reminded us of a sad truth: "Remember you're going to die." Afraid to fail? Remember that. Embarrassed? Remember that. So go swing big. What are you waiting for?

When OpenAI was just 6 months old, Sam Altman asked Elon Musk: "How do you think OpenAI is going?" This was Musk's response, for what now looks to be the world's most innovative company:

Want success in your career? Be a doer, not a talker. Don't just dabble or organize. Take risks and commit to your convictions. "History belongs to the doers." — Sam Altman

"You don't want diversity of vision!" The main reason companies get intro trouble... Sam Altman predicted it: Different visions within from executives at a company can make it implode. OpenAI, which recently sought an $86b valuation, is no exception. The solution, according to Sam? Only hire these people:

In February 2014, Facebook buys WhatsApp for $19.3 billion. WhatsApp had: 450 million users And only 56 employees.

As of today, @LAYER1OFFICIAL is officially an operating virtual power plant in Texas. ERCOT, which manages 90% of Texas' load, has recognized us as the first Controllable Load Resource in the market. #Bitcoin batteries are balancing electric grids in Texas.

I found the mindset that builds trillion dollar companies. Is it optimism? No. Is it pessimism? No. Here's the answer from @elonmusk:

When I graduated college, my plan was: - Start at a big company (~5,000) - Then work at a smaller one (~50) - Then join as an early employee (~8) - Then start my own Here’s why and what I learned along the way:

Without Napster, Gnutella, & BitTorrent, record labels may have never agreed to 99¢ music on the iTunes Store. Censorship-resistant protocols inspire change by applying pressure. Bitcoin is doing this to money. What changes will we see?

Who should be your role model? Don't settle for anyone else.

In truth, there's a long road before you'll ever see a penny. Your real opportunity is something different. The first 10 hires at this company are rockstars. They're the best at what they do. YOU LIKELY GET TO WORK DIRECTLY UNDER ONE! Do right by them. Learn from them.

MEDIUM-SIZED COMPANY A growing company with 50 people is onto something. It may be a rocketship. 🚀 Your equity is quite exciting. When they hit $1b, you’ll be a millionaire! This motivates you daily. You’re even OK with less pay...

I'm excited to *FINALLY* share what I've been building at @GeminiDotCom! Introducing the Gemini dollar, the world's first regulated stablecoin on #Ethereum. Writing these smart contracts was a blast, with lots of talented engineers making this possible! bit.ly/2CDoFHe

🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT: SOLANA IS LIVE ON @MEOW! SEND AND RECEIVE USDC ON SOLANA, ALL FROM YOUR EXISTING CASH BALANCE! Now on @Meow, you can send and receive USDC on Solana for free. All from your existing cash balance! That's right: the days of needing to pre-fund, maintain, and log in to a crypto exchange all to send and receive USDC on Solana are over, permanently. The SAME balance that you use for ALL your business finances, payroll, and corporate cards — is the one you can now use to send and receive USDC on Solana. These USDC transactions integrate natively with your accounting software, like QuickBooks, NetSuite, Puzzle, and more. And if that’s not enough? You can set up: — Custom spend controls, per dollar amount — Multi-user permissions And 2FA is enforced on every transaction Crypto companies building on Solana, and crypto VC funds investing in the Solana ecosystem, the time is Meow. You are heard. Apply today: Meow is a financial technology company, not a bank. The payment services described in this message are provided by Bridge Ventures LLC and its affiliates, registered and licensed where applicable.

Steve Jobs knew: Customers are smart. They can't be fooled. The greatest founders focus on product, not hype:

We never shared this publicly: In August, my co-founder, best friend, and CTO @bryce_meow suffered a violent concussion. He couldn't read, have a conversation, or even look at a screen. Bryce is objectively the most talented person at @Meow so this was a major blow. It's been 8 months. And now, Bryce just had his first full day back. ❤️

If you liked this, retweet the 1st tweet to help another startup builder:

Today, WhatsApp has 2.1 billion users and could be worth $100 billion as a standalone company.

Some early WhatsApp users started using statuses to make jokes with friends. These statuses turn into fun messages. He had accidentally created a messaging service.

At a tiny company, it’s all a bet on the founders. When the boat's small, it's easy to steer. That's why even one bad decision from a small company founder can steer the boat off course. Pick right, and it's the best thing in the world. Pick wrong, and you've wasted your time.

In 1984, Steve Jobs took a big risk. He released Apple's Macintosh computer to compete with IBM. Jobs pulled it out of his bag. And the Mac spoke directly to IBM: "NEVER TRUST A COMPUTER YOU CAN'T LIFT!" One of the most genius marketing tactics ever:

🎉 ANNOUNCEMENT: MORTGAGES FOR FOUNDERS, NOW LIVE THROUGH MEOW!* *Mortgage services are provided by BNY Mellon, N.A., through a partnership with Atomic Invest LLC and are subject to credit approval. Meow is not a mortgage lender, broker, or financial institution. Founders told us they have a tough time with mortgages. So we at Meow want to make it easy for founders to access them! We’re providing white-glove service so you’re never flying blind. And we're opening up 10 spots in this beta launch. Fill out the form below to learn more👇

"Every important thing we've done has been misunderstood." Jeff Bezos created controversy with every decision. Even launching customer reviews on Amazon. Planning to innovate? Prepare for this:

Sam Altman saw what happened with the App Store. Lightweight apps had meteoric rises. But they fell. The companies that endured? They focused on customer satisfaction. "AI companies" will be the same, says @sama.

🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT: STABLECOINS ARE LIVE ON @MEOW. SEND AND RECEIVE USDC, FOR FREE, ALL FROM YOUR EXISTING CASH BALANCE! Now on Meow, you can send and receive USDC for free. All from your existing cash balance. That's right: the days of needing to pre-fund, maintain, and log in to a crypto exchange just to send and receive USDC are over, permanently. The SAME balance that you use for ALL your business finances, payroll, and corporate cards — is the one you can now use to send and receive USDC. This has huge ramifications for: — Crypto companies: that transact in USDC — Crypto VCs: who fund investments in USDC — Businesses: that receive vendor payments in USDC, and pay contractors internationally And the best part? These USDC transactions integrate natively with your accounting software, like QuickBooks, NetSuite, Puzzle, and more. And if that’s not enough? You can set up: — Custom spend controls, per dollar amount — Multi-user permissions And 2FA is enforced on every transaction This is one of our MOST REQUESTED FEATURES and we believe @Meow is the first major business banking fintech in the U.S. (over $1 billion in assets on the platform) to support free sending and receiving USDC. Business finance is business finance, whether it's cash or stablecoins. The "bridge between Web2 and Web3" is finally here, for real. No more maintaining separate accounts at crypto exchanges for businesses. Crypto companies and crypto funds, apply today: Meow is a financial technology company, not a bank. Bridge is a licensed Money Services Business operating out of the United States.

Jeff Bezos found that every company competes the same way: How can we win this year? Amazon escaped competition by focusing on this instead:

TINY COMPANY (~10) This is the danger zone. It's the hardest one to nail. You're an early employee. The vision is grand. If what the founders say is true, you will be worth tens to hundreds of millions. But there's zero data points suggesting the company is competent.

"It's so easy to add. It's harder to edit." Focus keeps Apple dominant, says Tim Cook:

“How to Secure Your Smart Contracts: 6 Solidity Vulnerabilities and how to avoid them” — Nice post, @gakonst! medium.com/loom-network/how-…

In June 2009, Apple unveils push notifications for iPhone apps. Koum adds 1 feature to WhatsApp: Every time a friend changes their status, you get a notification.

At first Acton and Koum apply to Facebook …and fail. In failing they become proud members of the “Facebook reject club”.

Koum quickly builds WhatsApp 2.0. It has 1 main feature: Messaging 2.0 takes off like a rocketship and hits 250,000 users.

Koum has an obsessive focus: “No distractions. No bullsh*t”.

At a tiny company, you may get to level up a title. You may learn how to manage a small team. You'll *definitely* learn how important the first 10 people are to determining a company’s success Bring that mindset with you when you start a company

In 2003, Apple released the iPod silhouette ad. Steve Jobs hated it. Apple ads were white pages, a product, and a tagline. "It's not Apple," he said. But he gave in. And now, it's considered one of the greatest ad campaigns in history. And a key reason iPod and iTunes won:

I fear no big company. I've worked at them. They're slow, clunky, and inefficient. Our ambitions require speed and compounded focus. I fear a leaner, hungrier startup. Meow has been ~6 people for most of its 1 yr existence. We're now 11. I'll be damned if anyone outworks us.

It was growing faster than early Facebook. Over the next 2 years, Zuck wines and dines Jan Koum while the business grows. In 2013, WhatsApp is adding 1 million new users… PER DAY.

So he meets with a friend to brainstorm app ideas. Koum wants to put statuses next to friends’ names in your address book. So he goes to RentACoder to hire a guy to build the 1st version. They call it WhatsApp.

First week living back in Miami Beach: • Screen time down 40% • 10 coffees / workouts with talented operators • Earlier wakeups, earlier workouts, higher productivity It's hard to imagine a healthier place to be an operator than Miami.