Already rich, already successful, why the last wave of tech winners is grinding again
They're rolling up their sleeves again, seemingly out of fear of missing AI's defining moment and, presumably, the irresistible allure of making even more money -- potentially a lot more.
A pattern is emerging among people who’ve already made it big. They’re rolling up their sleeves again, seemingly out of fear of missing AI’s defining moment and, presumably, the irresistible allure of making even more money — potentially a lot more.
Tom Blomfield, who co-founded GoCardless and Monzo before spending 4.5 years mentoring founders as a Y Combinator Group Partner, announced on Monday that he is taking a leave of absence to join Anthropic’s compute team — not as an executive, but as a member of technical staff.
He’s not alone in making that kind of move. Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger joined Anthropic as Chief Product Officer in 2024, and Andrej Karpathy, a founding member of OpenAI who went on to lead AI at Tesla and start his own company, Eureka Labs, joined Anthropic’s pre-training team in May, framing the decision almost identically to Blomfield’s, writing that “the next few years at the frontier of LLMs will be especially formative .”
Not everyone is joining someone else’s lab. Chamath Palihapitiya, the “SPAC King” who has mostly stuck to boardrooms and all things “ All In ” since leaving Facebook in 2011, just took his first full-time operating role in over a decade as CEO of 8090 Labs, his enterprise AI coding startup, which he announced a couple of weeks ago along with a $135 million Series A led by Salesforce Ventures. Wrote Palihapitiya on X, “I am convinced that what we are building now is even more important , so there was no decision to make except to be all in.”
Similarly, Eric Wu, who ran Opendoor for a decade before stepping back in 2023, recently launched NavigateAI, an AI “copilot” for construction workers, with $25 million in seed funding. Wu told me directly on a recent call about his decision to dive into an AI startup, “I knew if I looked back in 10 years and didn’t do something related to it, I would probably regret that.”
The clearest sign of how keen people who’ve already “made it” are to work on what they view as the still-early-innings of AI might be the job title itself. “Member of technical staff” is the deliberately flat, non-hierarchical label that Anthropic and OpenAI use for nearly everyone on their technical teams, regardless of seniority. It’s the same title Blomfield is taking.
It’s also the title that Peter Bailis took this March, just months after becoming Workday’s CTO, a role overseeing AI strategy across an $8 billion-revenue business. Bailis lasted less than a year before trading it for a spot at Anthropic.
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Key takeaways
- Successful tech professionals are reinvesting in AI startups, which could inspire the Brazilian ecosystem.
- The shift towards less hierarchical organizational structures may facilitate innovation in Brazilian companies.
- Brazil must prepare for increasing global competition in the AI sector, requiring strategic partnerships and investments.
Editorial analysis
The movement of prominent figures in technology towards AI startups reveals an interesting phenomenon in the global landscape, which could have significant repercussions for Brazil as well. The country, which already has a growing startup ecosystem, may benefit from the experience and vision of these professionals who, even after achieving success, seek to reinvent themselves in a field they consider still in its infancy. This quest for innovation and relevance in the AI sector may inspire Brazilian entrepreneurs to venture more into developing AI-based solutions, especially in areas such as fintech, healthcare, and agribusiness, where Brazil already has a strong presence.
Moreover, the trend of high-level professionals joining technical teams instead of taking executive roles may indicate a shift in corporate culture, where collaboration and technical execution are valued over hierarchy. This could be a sign that Brazilian companies also need to rethink their organizational structures to attract and retain talent, especially in such a dynamic sector as AI. The adoption of less hierarchical titles could facilitate innovation and idea exchange, creating a more conducive environment for developing new technologies.
Lastly, the increasing emphasis on AI by industry leaders suggests that Brazil should prepare for heightened global competition. With AI becoming a strategic priority, Brazilian startups need to position themselves to avoid falling behind. This may involve partnerships with universities, investment in research and development, and creating a regulatory environment that favors innovation. What we observe is a race forward, where adaptability and foresight will be crucial for success in the technology market, both in Brazil and abroad.
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