First Builders and the New Tech Mafia

Many of the best startup operators share something remarkable: an almost founder-like ability to create order from chaos. Rachel and I first noticed this pattern watching colleagues at Snap, Cruise, and Komodo Health build critical functions from scratch when processes were undefined and resources were scarce.

When I joined Cruise in 2018, the company had publicly committed to launching a robotaxi service the following year. As the deadline approached, it became clear that the technology was not ready. Timelines were wiped, projects were cancelled, and the company rallied around a handful of “Big Bets.” Nearly every team was reorganized to better support these efforts. In that first year, I had five different managers. It was quite hectic, and I saw many people opt out. But my scope grew every quarter with new challenges. I instituted a new sprint structure for an engineering team, reprioritized product roadmaps, built a pilot execution team, and formed a business unit. Despite Cruise's later challenges, the company saw tremendous growth in IP and talent during that time.

Many of my coworkers went on to take key roles at companies like Open AI and Replit. When they started leaving to launch their own companies, I began investing in them. Not because it was trendy, but because I'd seen firsthand how their operating experience translated into founding success. For example, Cecilia Ziniti went on to join Replit as their General Counsel and eventually founded GC AI. We made the first commitment into the company. In its first year of business, GC AI is now serving 450+ legal teams across 53 countries and closed a $10M Series A.

At The Council Capital, we have now invested in founders from Procore, Charlie Health, Uber, Airbnb, Flexport, Waymo, and more. And the pattern is clear - operators that can thrive in these periods of rapid transformation are able to hit the ground running faster as founders.

We call these First Builders – the early operators who join before success is obvious and help create it.

What Makes a First Builder?

The magic happens in what we call "high slope" environments – when companies are growing so fast they're constantly breaking and rebuilding their systems, processes, and sometimes their entire identity.

In these environments, First Builders develop five distinct advantages:

1. Extreme adaptability: They excel during organizational upheaval, whether it's pivots, restructures, or complete reinventions.

2. Comfort with ambiguity: They thrive without playbooks, creating structure where none exists.

3. Rapid ascent and impact: Given opportunity and chaos, they expand their scope dramatically.

4. Elite talent networks: They build relationships in pressure-cooker environments that become invaluable for future ventures.

5. Extreme versatility: They take on job functions outside of their primary expertise and learn fast to meet the needs of growing organizations.

High slope environments generate unicorn founders.

This pattern isn't just anecdotal. A 2023 study revealed that a striking number of unicorn founders had previously been early employees or founders at entrepreneurial companies during the startup to scaleup phase. The data validated what I'd seen firsthand: the skills learned in high-slope environments are crucial for founding success.

The New Tech Mafia is more distributed and physical than ever.

First Builders are not a new concept, but rather, the individualization of the Tech Mafia effect. Silicon Valley first saw this with the PayPal Mafia, whose early operators went on to found companies like SpaceX, YouTube, Yelp, Tesla, and LinkedIn. Having lived and worked in Silicon Valley for over a decade, I’ve personally seen this proliferation still happening decades later. We are now several generations in as early employees become top founders whose early employees become top founders.

But Today's First Builders are different – they're not just focused on consumer tech and horizontal SaaS. They're bringing tech-enabled innovation to industries that have historically been underserved.

The new generation is emerging from companies like Flexport, Anduril, SpaceX, One Medical, and Procore. As software moves beyond bits to atoms, these builders are transforming logistics, healthcare, construction, and transportation, what I called Essential Industries in my Fund I thesis essay, Software’s Third Act. Their operating experience in these complex industries gives them unique insight into which problems are worth solving.

Building The Council Capital

This evolution shaped The Council’s investment thesis: back the operators who've proven they can build from scratch in essential industries. We're committing millions over the next few years to companies led by First Builders and have a deep operator community to help us uncover more of these networks. Most recently, we invested in Rosarium Health. With over 10 years of experience at healthcare companies that have exited via acquisition and IPO like Bright Health, Evolent Health, and Truven Health, Rosarium’s founder Cameron Carter has First Builder DNA.

We're not just investing in companies – we're investing in a blueprint for how great operators become great founders. The skills that made Silicon Valley successful are becoming crucial everywhere as more industries undergo rapid transformation. We believe the next generation of transformative companies will be built by people who learned to thrive in times of chaos, growth, and greatness.

Sharing First Builder Stories

That's why we're launching the First Builders podcast. Starting tomorrow, you'll hear from the early employees of Square, OneMedical, Webflow, Replit, Cruise, and Substack about their journeys. These aren't just startup stories – they're practical lessons in how to build in high-growth environments. If you’re subscribed to this newsletter, you’ll get the first episode in your inbox tomorrow.

These conversations will explore:

• The moment they knew it was time to start something

• How operating experience shaped their founding journey

• Lessons learned building in high-growth environments

• What separates great builders from great founders

Whether you're an operator considering the founder leap or building something new inside an existing company, these stories offer a blueprint for creating order from chaos. Join us as we uncover how First Builders are shaping the next generation of essential industries.