tako's founders had a compelling vision to rebuild payroll and employee lifecycle management for brazil using modern infrastructure and ai-native workflows, but needed to translate ambitious concepts into structured product strategy and executable go-to-market approach. at day zero with just two founders, they required strategic partnership to define market positioning, product sequencing, and organizational foundations for scaling.
partnered directly with founders defining their market wedge around modern payroll infrastructure designed specifically for brazil's complex legal and union landscape, with embedded it automations simplifying onboarding and offboarding. guided product roadmap development, early design partner targeting strategies, and module sequencing priorities. shaped hiring frameworks and organizational design across product, engineering, and design functions while serving as strategic sounding board for messaging, user research, gtm motions, and bundling approaches.
operationalized vision through roadmap planning, design partner targeting, and go-to-market development. guided product positioning, market entry, and team scaling. advised on messaging, user research, and competitive strategy while building decision-making frameworks for growth. tako rebranded and launched as brazil’s intelligent os for payroll and hr, raised $13.2m seed from andreessen horowitz, ribbit, onevc, and ramp founders. scaled from 2 to 39 employees with offices in são paulo and san francisco, now processes tens of millions in payroll for 50+ mid-market firms. established strong market position with ai-native differentiation.
