Cyrus Shirazi 🔱
@Cyrus845
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Building | @usehaven
New York, NY
Joined December 2017
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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,
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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
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Q2 Recap at Haven:
1. Brought on three legendary teammates, Michael Brod (
@adhoc97
), Daniel Laufer, and our founding engineer, Karen (who are both savages but don't use Twitter - shoutout to both!).
2. Added 60+ new customers and hundreds of thousands in new revenue!
3.
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NYC: I'm hosting a founder and investor happy hour!
With our friends
@MorganStanley
Over 80 VCs and founders have already RSVP'd 🤯
📅 Thursday, May 9th
⏱ 5 - 7:30pm EDT
📍 New York City (Exact location TBD)
RSVP below 👇
Excited to catch up
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The best founders do more with less.
They've been building companies all their lives and know how to stretch every dollar.
When they finally raise, their odds of success are SO much higher.
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Newsflash: Elite founders don't have work-life balance.
The ones that are worth their salt will tell you the same.
They live an unbalanced life by necessity.
For YEARS.
Until they make it.
Greatness demands sacrifice.
That's just the way it is — no exceptions.
If you
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@meliarobin
@ycombinator
@daltonc
@mwseibel
The last ick is out of touch. Too many technical founders out there who don’t have their finger on the pulse of the customer.
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July Recap
@usehaven
🚀
What a month! We've been cooking.
Here's the rundown:
1. Crossed 180+ clients in less than a year
Dozens of new amazing businesses joined us last month alone!
2. Rolled out new dashboard to initial clients:
• Say goodbye to QuickBooks logins
•
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In 2002, eBay bought PayPal for $1.5 billion.
This spawned the legendary "PayPal Mafia" who went on to found companies like YouTube, LinkedIn, Yelp, Tesla, SpaceX, and more.
According to David Sacks (PayPal's founding COO), 6 key factors contributed to the PayPal Mafia's
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Overdue shoutout to my boy
@skbjml
one of the best VCs in the business. He's the embodiment of hustle and one of Haven's day 1 believers.
Founders trying to change the future need people in their corner that are just built different and he's one of those guys.
What I admire
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If I was a first-time founder in 2024 with zero funding and massive conviction, I would never aim for work-life balance.
I'd do these 5 "extreme" things instead:
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A few weeks ago,
@APompliano
had me on his podcast (500k+ YouTube subs) to talk about why I'm so passionate about disrupting the accounting space.
I shared 2 main reasons:
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Over the past 10 months, Haven's team has grown from 9 to 17, and over 140 amazing customers.
Here's the controversial "acid test" I use to evaluate new team members (and why it's never failed me):
I call it The Random Weekend Test.
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Founders: Stop chasing "work-life balance."
It's a myth that'll kill your startup.
The best founders I know:
• Live and breathe their business 24/7
• Work 80+ hour weeks for years
• Sacrifice everything else
You can't change the world by clocking out at 5.
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From 2 guys and 3 air mattresses to a $70B company:
In 2007, two broke designers moved to SF with no money for rent.
To make ends meet, they bought air mattresses and rented out space to conference attendees.
They called it the Air Bed & Breakfast.
People thought it was the
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I founded Haven in March 2023.
In < 1 year we've acquired 100 customers with $0 of outside capital.
Here are the 5 key strategies I used to bootstrap my way to profitability:
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The 3 most common traits of hyper successful founders:
- Superiority complex
- Massive insecurity
- Impulse control
What would you add?
Credit
@AlexHormozi
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Founders get told "no" constantly. It's part of the job.
If you get burned out from someone doubting you or telling you to work harder, you're not cut out for this.
Developing thick skin isn't optional. It's a requirement.
The sooner you accept rejection as a normal part of
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90% of startups don’t fail because their product sucks.
They fail because their distribution sucks.
Peter Thiel said it well:
“Most businesses actually get zero distribution channels to work.”
“Poor distribution — not product — is the number one cause of failure.”
Data backs
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"Follow your passion" is horrible business advice.
It's not about what YOU want — it's about what the market wants. And your ability to deliver on that need.
Passion has nothing to do with it.
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Over the past 4 weeks, I spoke with more than 50 founders who were fed up with their accountants.
Their biggest complaints?
Lack of transparency and SLOW response times.
Here's 7 ways we're solving these problems differently:
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I was 13 when Pops taught me this valuable lesson.
It applies to life and business...
And everything in between.
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Jason Calacanis invested in 350+ startups over the past decade.
Here's the A.D.D. framework he uses with teams to level up their productivity and do more with less:
1. Can we automate this (with software)?
2. Can we deprecate this (bc having little to no impact)?
3. Can we
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Reality check: entrepreneurship is 99% rejection.
There is a strong possibility you will be:
- laughed out of investor meetings
- turned down for loans or credit
- ignored by potential partners
- ghosted by potential clients
- trash-talked by competitors
- doubted by your own
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There's a new generation of founders emerging.
And they aren’t chasing VC capital and getting handcuffed to investors.
Instead they’re taking matters into their own hands by building profitable service businesses.
They’re growing these businesses rapidly by borrowing
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The best founders make enormous sacrifices to build their companies.
And it starts with their mindset.
I was reminded of this last week when a close friend told me about his startup struggles.
Friend:
"I've launched a bunch of businesses over the past year and a half, but
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My business has grown from 0 to 180+ clients.
How?
We've been doing the obvious things extremely well consistently since day one.
You have to show up every day.
Most people think linearly: Input --> Output.
But startups don't work that way.
Especially if you consider
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In January 2022, I made the best decision of my life - I joined
@JoinMeow
as their first business hire. The opportunity to work with
@arvanaghi
and
@bryce_meow
(and team) has changed my life forever (in the best of ways) 🚀
The craziest thing is, we're just getting started...🐈
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:
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The
@JoinMeow
podcast tour continues!
Hear
@arvanaghi
chat with
@michaelbatnick
about the state of crypto on the Animal Spirits Podcast 🐈
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Real talk: Sometimes a $5k check from the right person is more valuable than $500k from a passive fund.
Here's why:
1. Expertise is priceless
2. Network effects > cash
3. Credibility boosts valuation
4. Operational support matters
5. Future rounds become easier
When building
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My old boss taught me a lesson I'll never forget..
“Bring value 1-to-many, not 1-to-1”
Here's what he meant:
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Why is it so difficult for startups/businesses to open an institutional crypto trading account?
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Your customers are your most valuable asset.
And nurturing those relationships is the most important thing you can do.
More important than your product.
More important than your funding.
More important than your team.
Because without customers, you don't have a business.
So
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Hunger is everything in business.
Here's how I test it in prospective hires and partners..
(Some of you will hate this)
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Before I founded Haven, the thought of posting on LinkedIn made me cringe.
Why?
I never wanted to be "that guy" in the group chat.
You know, the one we'd all laugh at for creating corny content.
I was terrified of being on the receiving end of those jokes.
So I avoided
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In 2023 I made Company-Building my religion and hit $1M in annual revenue in under 9 months.
Here are the 6 commandments of my approach to building a high-growth fintech startup:
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So funny to me when I hear VCs say they strictly look to invest in technical founders when many of the best companies of our generation are run by non-technical founders….
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Obsess over the customer and the rest will take care of itself!
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I founded Haven 1 year ago.
Today I:
• Run a 7-fig accounting firm for startups
• Work with 180+ incredible clients
• Lead an elite team of 17 people
• Manage a founder community
• Happily work 7 days a week
How?
By doing the boring stuff extremely well, every single
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For better or worse, the greatest founders live a completely unbalanced lifestyle for years.
They have no work life balance.
And in my opinion, this is one of the things that make them successful.
The only way to truly solve a problem is to go deeper on it than anyone else
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The clowder will be in attendance 🐈
@JoinMeow
@FutureProofAC
speaker
@arvanaghi
is not only leading the charge to usher in a new era of digital assets and DeFi, but he’s also sharing the valuable insights he’s learning as the Co-Founder and CEO of
@JoinMeow
Check them out here 👇
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We signed 5 customers before noon yesterday.
(Shout out to the team 🚀)
Haven will succeed because we're customer-obsessed.
Traditional accounting firms optimize for their own margins and operational efficiency.
We optimize for an incredible client experience at all costs.
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Why did I raise a million dollar pre-seed after bootstrapping to 7-figures in revenue?
Here are 3 main reasons why I decided to take on outside capital:
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So amped to welcome you to the clowder! Best part is, we're just getting started 🚀
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@chrishlad
@meow
LFG. Cold outreach isn't dead. Cold calls, cold emails, cold DMs, etc.
Too many sales people give up when they get No's.
Sales is all about resilience.
Brick by Brick.
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Speed is the ultimate business advantage.
Successful entrepreneurs:
- Make decisions quickly
- Communicate with urgency
- Take action without hesitation
- Prioritize speed and adaptability
They don't wait for the stars to align or for the perfect moment to strike.
They know
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In less than a year, we scaled Haven to 130+ customers. Over 80% of them came from referrals and organic channels.
Here's the 3-part strategy we used to drive 5-10 referrals, warm intros, and direct inbound leads per week:
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4 "mentor" red flags I wish I knew earlier:
1. Haven't built a company
2. Advice is all theory, no practice
3. Can't point to founders they've helped
4. More interested in sounding smart than helping you
Real mentors are rare.
Be careful who to trust with business advice.
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Fact: Bad finance kills more startups than bad products.
Here are the top 3 money mistakes founders are making right now:
(And how to fix them)
1. Letting cash sit idle
Most founders leave spare capital in low-interest checking accounts.
Big mistake.
With interest rates
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💯! This is exactly why
@JoinMeow
operates on a second by second basis 🐈🚀
Founders know that building a successful
#startup
hinges on being able to adapt quickly.
A master plan can focus and guide a team, but when it stops working it’s important to quickly improvise a “Plan B”.
And do you know who does this extraordinarily well? Jazz musicians. 🧵👇
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Successful entrepreneurs:
1. Make decisions quickly
2. Communicate with urgency
3. Iterate and improve on the fly
4. Take action without hesitation
5. Cultivate a strong bias for action
6. Prioritize speed and adaptability
7. Focus on execution over perfection
8. Know that done
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Pet peeve: Too many companies build products their customers don't need.
Meanwhile, the best founders obsessively learn from customers:
- Observe how users interact with the product.
- Listen to feedback and understand pain points.
- Use their insights to improve the product
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I bootstrapped Haven to 7 figures in revenue in 9 months.
Then I raised a pre-seed round in under 30 days.
Here's the blow-by-blow of my million dollar raise 🧵
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I've said it before and I'll say it again:
Work-life balance is a myth for founders.
However...
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Bad finance kills more startups than bad products.
Here's the top 3 money mistakes founders make:
(And how to fix them)
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I've been an entrepreneur my entire life..
Here's the story of my first hustle:
(Plus a critical realization)
I started my first business in middle school.
I sold BIC mechanical pencils to my classmates.
I got in trouble a few times but I absolutely loved it.
I didn't know
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Hard truth: You need to fire fast.
Great guidance can't fix crappy people.
But entrepreneurs are optimists by nature.
We're tempted to believe that with enough guidance, anyone can change and improve.
But the reality is, some people won't change no matter how much you invest
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The most powerful force in business?
Momentum.
It's hard to get started...
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@darrenmarble
Hire SO you can grow. Don’t hire to grow. There’s a big difference between the 2.
Prior to starting my own biz I had a few first hand experiences of seeing companies not hire enough which hindered growth and companies that hired too much (ie over hiring which didn’t translate
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So many companies build products their customers don't actually need.
They create solutions for problems that may not exist.
Successful founders know that customers are the best teachers:
- They listen to feedback and pain points.
- They observe how users interact with the
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You don't need to reinvent the wheel to win.
Just build a better wheel.
Like Ramp did in it's face-off with Brex.
Focus on solving problems and serving customers better than anyone else.
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Survival in entrepreneurship isn't about independence.
It's about inter-dependence.
Massive difference.
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My best fundraising advice to founders:
Weaponize your cap table.
Here's what I mean:
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Relationships are the secret to good business.
But genuine connections can't be bought..
Here's how I build trust at scale:
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@usehaven
x
@getplatter
Cooking with my friend Mr.
@BenSharf
this morning.
Exciting things coming soon!
Stay tuned 🤫
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4. Avoiding big company pitfalls
The scrappiness required in PayPal's early days was critical.
Larger companies with guaranteed distribution have less incentive to innovate around user acquisition.
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Staying top of mind is one of the most important things in all of sales.
And IMHO, one of the most important things in all of business.
Check in with people consistently:
- Customers
- Prospects
- Partners
- Advisors
- Employees
- Friends
Doesn't matter, just do it.
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At some point, every founder needs to transition out of founder-led sales.
But that doesn't mean you ever stop selling.
For example:
When I started Haven, I was closing every deal.
- $5K
- $10K
- $50K
Didn't matter. I was on every call.
Now—at 185+ clients—things are
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All my successful founder friends have what I call "the bootstrapper mentality.
Here's what I mean:
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The myth of the well-rounded founder is killing startups.
In reality, the best founders aren't 'jacks-of-all-trades'.
They're savages at ONE thing.
For example:
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1. Hiring for talent density and cultural fit
PayPal's founders deliberately recruited entrepreneurial people similar to themselves.
This ensured a cohesive culture of individuals who became close friends.
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3. Empowering visionary founders
The PayPal Mafia companies resisted replacing passionate founders with "professional" managers, preserving the original vision.
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In less than 2 years, I closed 200 deals at MainStreet and Meow.
Here's the 7-step sales playbook I used to crush my quota and become a top performer in record time:
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6. Recognizing network effects
The PayPal team knew that their payment system's value increased with more users.
This insight around two-sided network effects became a cornerstone for many Mafia members' later ventures.
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2. Prioritize customer experience
Traditional firms often treat clients as an afterthought.
At Haven, exceptional customer experience is our core ethos. Every client gets a dedicated Slack channel so they can ask questions and get quick responses.
We treat clients like VIPs.
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Raise from strategic angels who can open doors and become an extension of your sales team.
They'll help you break into key networks and audiences.
At Haven, we raised our pre-seed round from 40+ elite investors including:
-
@APompliano
(AKA Pomp)
-
@charliecfeng
(Clearco)
-
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The Takeaway:
David Sacks believes the massive success of PayPal alumni stems from the unique combination of talent, culture, and strategic insights that were nurtured in PayPal's early startup environment.
P.S. Who is today's version of the PayPal Mafia?
Who comes to mind?
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Why shouldn’t every startup have its own hedge fund?
Airbnb did 👇
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Reason 2. I'm obsessed with serving founders.
As a founder myself, I know the challenges of building a company. The late nights, the stress, the constant fires to put out. That's why I've made it my mission to be there for our customers 24/7/365.
Is it healthy? Probably not.
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