Caribou

We had a few product false starts in the early days of Caribou, aka "let's turn one of the most complex Big Four services into software" This was largely due to the unique knowledge transfer issue that exists when you can't understand a process by observation alone. It felt like going back to school to learn about Transfer Pricing and International Taxes. It was great, but we weren't building quickly enough. Abstracting Transfer Pricing workflows can't be done by competitive analysis or observation (nothing exists anyway). You need experts to communicate the current norms and approach. We brought our tax team in-house to make this easier Then, we weren't sure how to prioritise features. We thought working with a dedicated PM would help, but that just made the knowledge transfer problem bigger - even if the PM had TP experience. We found success by giving our tax team more control over prioritization. Breaking down the most technical features was another hurdle, as 0% of our product team are tax experts. We oscillated between "we don't need to become experts" and "we can't proceed until we all understand this." We fixed this by always having Figma open and creating fast prototypes as we went. This worked so well!! These tweaks not only affected how we build but also how we prefer to exchange knowledge as a team👇

Loved Nikita Andersson's article on Service as software. I've heard this term a few times in the last month. As well as targeting the Big Four's existing customer base, there's also an opportunity to offer 'Big Four' outcomes to businesses that aren't traditionally Big Four customers. This matters because public health and large financial services avoid startups like the plague so a faster GTM motion (with scale-ups or small enterprise) can help ignite nascent revenue engines.

Given there are fewer than 10,000 Transfer Pricing experts globally--less when considering only the good ones--it's not surprising that advisors and investors miscategorise us as "sales tax" or "invoice compliance". TP hasn't entered the chat yet. Transfer Pricing used to be a problem for massive corporations because they were the only ones that were international but the surge of default global companies is changing that. Default global companies aren't as opportunistic as their single entity counterparts. They're thrown into the lion's den of multi-jurisdictional tax filings and local accounting nuance from day one--overpaying taxes, being denied R&D claims, and shockingly bad guidance are the norm. Traditional firms (including the Big Four) still act as if it's only the large multinationals that have these problems. They're geared towards producing documentation for the likes of Caterpillar, J P Morgan, etc. but they don't know how to operate with companies whose structure & ops change on a yearly basis - a la high-growth scale-ups. We do. Our customers don't want lengthy workshops and 60-page presentations, or to have questions answered with more questions. They want to upload company data, approve and sign documents and turn this into a background process with minimal human interaction. 🦌 This rant may as well serve as a call to action. If you're reading this thinking, "my job isn't hard enough; I want to work on a highly technical tax field because I read a LinkedIn post today", come solve a unique, global problem with us. I'm posting new roles across engineering, ML, sales, and TP very soon. DM me if you want to get ahead of the crowd ✌🏽

It's official: Flagright is using Caribou for its Transfer Pricing admin. Flagright's excellent customer testimonials speak for themselves. Their AI-native product handles transaction monitoring, case management, and risk scoring for some of the most innovative fintechs right now. With clients in six continents (where are my Antarctic fintechs at?), and entities in 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇸🇬 Singapore, and the 🇺🇸US, they recognised the need to simplify their accounting by managing their cross-border taxes more efficiently, so they came to us. By formalising their TP now, Flagright can continue its ambitious expansion into new countries without worrying about random tax bills or future fines & penalties. I'm happy we can assist Baran Ozkan, CAMS and his team navigate the complexities of international tax admin. 🌎

New partner confirmed🔥 Company growth brings admin woes, like a garden inevitably weeds, and our latest partner excels in simplifying one of the thickest patches: hiring. Given the link between hiring and Transfer Pricing, it was only a matter of time before we started working with Alex Bouaziz and his team. That's why I'm excited to announce our partnership with Deel to simplify global expansion for companies everywhere. Here's what that means in practice: 💼 Deel users now have access to higher quality and streamlined Transfer Pricing setups, moving away from the reliance on traditional firms towards automation (and 20% off!). 💼 Caribou customers get 20% off Deel's global payroll, EOR services, US Payroll and PEO. And even their new entity formation product, which lets you open entities in over 60 countries. Head over to the Deel and Caribou marketplace to take advantage of this, or if you want a bit more information - head over to our partnership page (link in comments!)

It's official: TRACTIAN is using Caribou for its multi-entity tax & legal admin. Companies like Cat and KraftHeinz suffer significant losses due to poor availability and machine failures. Tractian solves this with their advanced sensors and devices - and they're flying off the shelves like the last batch of grandma's cookies. Serving companies across the US, South America, and Europe means Tractian's finance function is evolving; cost plus vs cost sharing, benchmarking, intragroup loans, and more international admin! We're excited to help Bruno Yoshikawa's team with these new international challenges.

It's official: Cable is using Caribou for its multi-entity tax & legal admin! A recent expansion into the US is the proof in the compliance-shaped-pudding that Cable's approach to combatting fraud is working. Mix hiring across jurisdictions, using EORs, and large corporate customers and you've got yourself a delicate lattice of structuring questions and international tax obligations that fall on Josh Brown's fledgling finance team. Like a four-tier cake, the international tax & TP distractions have piled up. So we're eager to start handling their international requirements with minimal distraction! 🎂

We’re coming up to the mid-point of our current product cycle. One of the challenges of planning this cycle was not falling prey to decision-making that’s underpinned by a false dichotomy. That’s because most prioritisation conversations I’ve been involved in often end up in either/or territory; “do we fix the admin tool or make the user-facing app better?” But the reality is more complex than our choice of words suggests, and the use of a false dichotomy says to me that we should probably revisit the problem we’re seeing and the desired end state. Does anyone else notice this in their product convos? This cycle's focus is our admin tool, and automating more of the work we do. After companies upload a few documents, we can identify functions for each entity, map out their group, add new transactions, and automatically test our policies against OECD’s guidelines (UK and Ireland - more TBC!) Our very lean tax team already supports 50 international businesses with entities in 🇮🇳, 🇬🇧, 🇺🇸, 🇨🇦, 🇲🇽, 🇸🇬, 🇦🇪, 🇮🇪, 🇧🇷, 🇵🇱, 🇳🇱, 🇧🇪, 🇫🇷, 🇦🇺 and we're working so we can double that number without affecting our CS metrics 🤞 #oecd #transferpricing #internationaltax

One of the hardest qualities to convey is trust, but it’s a quality that plays a leading role in our story so far. What I mean is that gut feeling that wills you toward a new relationship. In our case, that’s giving companies the information they need to say, “Yep, these guys know what they’re doing.” Sometimes, a website with quotes and promises isn’t enough. Qualifications and experience are ancient history; it’s much more about how well you understand each other in that first 30-minute conversation. We’re human after all; rationality evades our decision-making. Look, buying tax software isn’t most people’s idea of a productive Tuesday. So, predictably, most of our customers have been referred to us by their accountants or lawyers at the exact point they’re blocked by their international tax problems. So, just over two months ago, I started speaking to accountants, lawyers, and finance products with the best feedback and popularity amongst international companies (because solving back-office issues is bloody hard when you're an international company). And I’ll be announcing these companies to our LinkedIn community very soon. They all work with multi-entity businesses and are highly rated by their customers. I've vetted each partner myself and will keep the feedback loop open. Keep your eyes peeled for the first announcement! 👀