👋 Hey, I’m Ivan. I write about startups and investing, focusing on where capital flows and the playbooks of the top 1% of founders and investors.
Welcome to a Founder Playbook edition of Startup Riders:
“Earn the right to automate.”
This week I sat down with Pablo Jimenez de Parga, co-founder of Throxy — the contrarian AI sales startup quietly replacing SDR teams with results-first automation.
But here’s the twist: it’s not a SaaS, and it’s not an AISDR product.
Throxy is a full-stack AI company that builds custom outbound systems, then runs them for you. Invisible UX, real meetings, full accountability. Their model = start manual, validate every step, then automate what works.
They’ve hit $1.5M ARR, raised $6M after Y Combinator, and are redefining what “venture-backable” looks like in the AI agency era.
📺 Help your boy, subscribe on YouTube!
What you’ll learn
Why most outbound fails and how Throxy flips it
Why AISDRs don’t work yet (and what replaces them)
Why the “AI agency” model works
Key takeaways
Sales is still broken: Missed quotas, outdated tools, bad CRMs. Pablo’s insight: it’s not about better messaging, it’s about better targeting.
Account > persona > message: Most teams get this backwards. If the pain is real, the message can be weak, it’ll still land.
AISDRs failed the outcome test: Pablo’s team proved they could deliver meetings consistently, while most AI tools delivered... demos.
The full-stack agency bet: They don’t sell software. They run your outbound for you. Customers don’t care how, it just works.
Manual first, then automate: While others chased scale, Throxy stayed manual. They iterated by hand until they earned the right to automate.
Invisible UX = magic: Customers see dashboards, replies, and meetings. The AI scraping, enrichment, and filtering? All hidden behind the scenes.
GTM was founder-led brute force: Pablo handled 100% of growth. Cold emails, cold calls, statement of work, send, close, repeat.
No ops bloat, only functions that move the needle: Legal, finance, HR? Outsourced. Focus stays on growth, product, and engineering.
Fundraise fast or miss it: Base10 led their $6M round in record speed. Pablo’s tip: If you want to back top YC founders, move fast or get left out.
📺 Watch and subscribe on YouTube → Startup Riders on YouTube
🗣️ What do you want us to cover next? Hit reply or comment 🤙
Share this post