Full Transcript

Jason Kirby: Hey everyone, welcome back. You got Jason Kirby here, founder and managing director of Thunder.vc. Welcoming Ali Ansari to the show today, founder and CEO of Micro1. Welcome to the show, Ali.

Ali Ansari: Thank you, Jason. Thanks for having me.

Jason Kirby: I’m really excited to have you on today. I think you have a unique story that will resonate with a lot of founders—how you repositioned Micro1 as a tech company to close your capital round. Before I ramble, tell the audience a little about you and Micro1.

Ali Ansari: Absolutely. I studied computer science at Berkeley and started a dev agency as a freshman. While building the agency, I realized companies needed help building in-house engineering teams rather than project-based agency work. I experimented with a model to help companies hire and manage pre‑vetted software engineers—that experiment was called Micro One.

Very quickly I realized that model was more scalable, and Micro1 outgrew the agency. I merged the two, focusing on Micro One’s core offering: helping companies build world‑class in‑house engineering teams. In my third year at Berkeley, I was studying math and CS, but dropped math to graduate a year early and focus fully on Micro1. Shortly after graduation, we raised a pre‑seed round led by J. Cal and Dream Ventures.

Jason Kirby: That’s awesome. With the infamous J Cal on the cap table—I’m a huge fan. When I first heard of you, the phrase “staffing agency” came to mind, which often reads as non‑venture‑backable. How did you convince Jason Calacanis and Dream Ventures that you’re more than another staffing agency?

Ali Ansari: Early on, that perception was a challenge. People saw “staffing agency,” and we hadn’t built the right narrative for how we’re different. We’re essentially productizing staffing: think a marketplace of vetted engineers where companies can quickly hire world‑class talent.

The first piece is the productized mechanism: a simple flow to share requirements, view profiles, request interviews, hire, and then manage the engagement from a dashboard—global HR management like raises, bonuses, time tracking, etc. The second, crucial piece is our tool called GPT Vetting—a pre‑screening system for technical talent at scale. That made the difference: we convinced investors our long‑term advantage is screening thousands of monthly applications rapidly and accurately using GPT Vetting. Once we built it, the vision for productizing a “staffing agency” clicked, and perceptions changed.

Jason Kirby: Productizing staffing makes sense: staffing can be profitable but is often linear with lower margins—though budgets are big. What stage were you at—clients and revenue—when you landed that first term sheet from Jason Calacanis?

Ali Ansari: The first term sheet actually wasn’t from J Cal. We did what I call a rolling pre‑seed. First investors were Joshua Browder and Cory Levy—each put in $110K. We grew for a couple of months, then went out to raise a fuller pre‑seed. We started at a $7M post‑money cap and brought in a bunch of angels at that cap, including small checks from the whole Micro One team.

After more growth for a month or two, we raised the cap to $14M—J Cal came in and led that. We brought in a few hundred thousand more at the $14M cap, with J Cal the majority investor. We wrapped that in June (terms set a couple months prior; Launch’s diligence took a couple months). A few months later, in October, Dream Ventures added a $1.3M check at a $30M cap. We had wrapped the round at $2M, weren’t expecting more, but Dream Ventures had strong value‑add and upped the cap. Our revenue had nearly doubled since the $14M terms—so while $30M was a premium, it wasn’t arbitrary. Total raised: $3.3M in an oversubscribed, rolling pre‑seed.

Jason Kirby: Let’s talk about the “rolling SAFE.” It’s more common than founders admit. Walk us through the timeline—those first angels like Cory—was there revenue and traction when they jumped in?

Ali Ansari: There was a bit of revenue—very small. I still had the agency, so I was juggling both. I had a 15‑minute call with Josh; he sent an offer right after. We did diligence and he invested. At that point we had no real product—mostly Typeforms—but some revenue. Once I stopped the agency and focused solely on Micro One, with a product and more revenue, we raised the pre‑seed.

Jason Kirby: How’d you get in front of Joshua and those investors?

Ali Ansari: My friend Mark from Hypercard introduced me to Cory—he runs Z Fellows. I joined a Z Fellows cohort, met great founders and mentors. Cory introduced me to Josh (DoNotPay). We had a 15‑minute call and Cory and Josh decided to invest together.

Jason Kirby: That’s a perfect example: the best intros to investors come from vetted founders. Moving to the Launch deal—how did you get in front of them and were you working directly with Jason or more with his team?

Ali Ansari: After Cory and Josh invested, they introduced me to many investors—angels and VCs at places like General Catalyst. We raised close to $1M via those intros. Then I met J Cal through another intro. I first worked with Andre on his team—great team, long but respectful diligence. Final meeting was with J Cal. I didn’t think the meeting went that well, but a week later we got an offer at a good valuation—and took it.

Jason Kirby: How many “no’s” did you deal with and what did you learn from them?

Ali Ansari: I met 60–70 investors—probably more. Plenty of no’s, often with generic feedback. Early on, the “staffing agency” concern came up, but that dropped once we introduced GPT Vetting. One thing I’d do earlier is invest more time in the story—the narrative behind why we’re building this and the $10–$100B vision. Show today’s product, yes, but also paint the 3–5 year picture. Josh told me: scrap the deck and show what the product will be in three years—talk as if you’re already there. I iterated my pitch maybe 15 times. In hindsight, more story upfront could have saved cycles—but iteration is part of the process.

Jason Kirby: Could you have written the perfect story without those no’s and feedback loops?

Ali Ansari: Probably not—it’s part of the game. Another lesson: product‑driven founders often dislike pitch decks and spreadsheets. I felt that too—every minute on the deck felt like time away from building. Changing that mindset helps: a few focused hours on narrative early can pay off.

Jason Kirby: Where’s the business now, and how are you using the capital?

Ali Ansari: We build in public, so numbers: a little over $400K/month in revenue. Blended gross margins a bit above 40%. Revenue mix: Micro One Talent (core—pre‑vetted engineers), MicroLab (agency services), and a small but growing SaaS line—GPT Vetting. We built GPT Vetting for internal recruiting, but clients wanted access, so we launched it as SaaS. Looking 3 years out, SaaS will be a much larger share—path to $100M ARR looks clearest through GPT Vetting as a subscription ($500–$1,000+/mo depending on volume). We’re speaking with large enterprises. Product org is our biggest team; ~95% of product work focuses on GPT Vetting.

Jason Kirby: You’re public about your numbers. Pros and cons of building in public?

Ali Ansari: Internally we made all numbers transparent first—P&L, profits, gross margins—everyone sees what I see. Some mentors advised against that, but it’s been one of our best decisions culturally. Extending that to Twitter, the main “con” was competitors seeing numbers—but they’ll try to optimize anyway. We posted a revenue chart a month and a half ago and got ~20 leads; two have already converted. Building in public drives organic demand, pairs well with our ~$30K/mo Twitter ads, and boosts sales efficiency because prospects already trust us.

Jason Kirby: Clarifying the $400K figure—MRR or monthly revenue? And is that GMV or your margin?

Ali Ansari: Not all is MRR—~70%+ is recurring; MicroLab’s portion isn’t. The $400K+ is top‑line gross revenue. Blended gross margins are ~40% across services—MicroLab ~60–70%+, Talent ~25–30%, SaaS ~90%+. So “gross revenue + gross margin” is the useful pair of metrics here.

Jason Kirby: You’ve essentially doubled and doubled again in under a year—from $7M cap to $14M to $30M. How do you keep investors engaged, especially when you added more capital after saying the round was done?

Ali Ansari: We send monthly updates covering revenue, MRR, gross margins, product progress, team updates, culture notes. We skipped one down month (in hindsight we’ll send even in down months), then resumed. We also send monthly product‑only updates. Investors appreciate the detail—charts, graphics—and it makes future raises easier.

Jason Kirby: Any backlash when you skipped that month?

Ali Ansari: None. Most investors compliment our updates; few reply, which I wish happened more. My last ask was “follow me on Twitter”—only six did! I appreciated those six.

Jason Kirby: Fundraising favors momentum. What’s your advice for founders to build momentum during a raise?

Ali Ansari: If you’re not doing a rolling pre‑seed, momentum matters a lot. Consider a rolling pre‑seed though—the average valuation of the round can rise as you grow (trade‑off is more time raising). For a momentum raise, line up a few strong relationships who can commit quickly to create organic FOMO. Don’t fake deadlines—investors sense it. I tried that; it backfired. Build real demand with real progress and trusted intros.

Jason Kirby: What else would you have done differently in your raise?

Ali Ansari: Lead with the product. A quick problem/solution then demo. I added a one‑minute Loom to the deck—offline viewers understood the product fast. Also, tailor the conversation style: some investors want a structured deck + Q&A; others want a freeform chat. Ask which they prefer. I shifted my goal from “dump max info in 30 minutes” to “build an emotional connection and ensure they truly understand the product.” Personal story matters: where I’m from, what I’ve built, and why I’m doing this—that’s what secured second meetings.

Jason Kirby: Exactly—first meetings rarely write million‑dollar checks; they earn the next meeting. Which style did Launch prefer?

Ali Ansari: With Launch: Andre preferred a structured pitch; Heidi was more conversational; Jason said, “Show me what you’re building,” and we jumped straight into the product, then chatted—yes, including his trip to Japan. Ending with a smile helps.

Jason Kirby: Smart move. Final advice for founders going out for pre‑seed in this market?

Ali Ansari: Two things: (1) Ask founders who’ve raised for help and intros—most are happy to support. (2) If possible, get one or two early believers to invest at a discount and champion your raise. Warm intros compound. Outbound to VCs can work, but the effort‑reward is usually low compared to warm intros.

Jason Kirby: You mentioned an offer for listeners—what is it, and who should take advantage?

Ali Ansari: Offer: 240 hours of free software development—two weeks free per engineer for up to three engineers. First week is completely free; if the engagement works, after month three you get another free week. For GPT Vetting, we’ll extend the free trial from one week to two. Best for any founder building an in‑house engineering team—whether hiring a founding engineer, a CTO, or expanding an existing team.

Jason Kirby: Amazing. We’ll include the link in the show notes. If anyone has questions, reach out to us at help.thunder.vc and we’ll pass it along. Ali, thanks for coming on.

Ali Ansari: Thank you, Jason—appreciate you.

Jason Kirby: Let it record.