Alex Bouaziz is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Deel, the $17BN global payroll juggernaut that just last week announced their latest $300M fundraise led by Ribbit, a16z and Coatue. Deel has been on the most insane journey, they do $1BN+ in ARR, they just had their first $100M revenue month and they have been profitable for over 3 years. ---------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode We Discuss: 0:00 Intro 01:20 Announcing $300M Fundraise at a $17BN Valuation 03:00 How Deel grew through 13 acquisitions 03:44 Responding to Rippling and media drama 04:35 Being an outsider to Silicon Valley's inner circle 07:30 Playing Offense vs Defense as a wartime CEO 09:20 How Alex stays calm through public disputes 11:23 Why Deel's leadership culture is so hands-on 14:58 Work ethic: Alex's thoughts on the "996 hustle" 16:07 Does wealth make founders better or worse leaders? 20:09 Raising $700M over Zoom during Covid 22:22 Are high valuations and investor brands worth it? 25:35 Do inves...