Zero to One at Larger Companies

I spent eight years doing two startups back-to-back. After that, I landed at Brex, where I spent four+ years building or working on four different products: two were complete zero-to-one builds, and two were mature products where I launched new sub-products underneath them.

Here's a screenshot of Brex's sidebar. The arrows mark the products I worked on during my time there:

That's five different product areas within a single company. Each one had its own zero-to-one moments, its own customers to win, its own problems to solve.

Now I'm at Coinbase, building another zero-to-one product. Here's what I've learned: if you love building new things but want a break from the existential grind of startups, building zero-to-one inside a larger company might be exactly what you're looking for.

What you get for free

The hardest parts of a startup—distribution, trust, and your own job security—are largely solved.

When we launched Brex Travel, we didn't have to cold-call enterprises and convince them Brex was legitimate. We already had enterprise customers using the rest of the Brex suite with competitors like Concur Travel or Navan for their travel needs. That customer base was immediately accessible. No brand-building. No trust-establishing. Just: here's a better product that works with your expense management suite.

You also get infrastructure (payment rails, compliance, support, etc.), funded runway without fundraising theater, and colleagues who've actually operated at scale.

What's still hard

You're not coasting. You typically have about a year to show real traction. Instead of monthly investor updates with growth charts, you're sending monthly updates to your CEO — who has similar expectations of exponential growth.

This is probably not the right fit if you're looking for a slower pace or better work-life balance. You're still fighting for survival. The context is just different.

What this isn't

Let me be direct: this doesn't compare to founding your own startup. Founding a company is 10 to 100 times harder. It's more of a way for founders and builders to spend time learning what scale looks like, what great engineering practices look like, all while still doing the kind of work that energizes them day-to-day.

Who this is perfect for

• Startup people who want a breather without leaving the zero-to-one game
• Builders who love creating new things but aren't ready to start their own company yet
• Future founders who want to learn how larger organizations operate before going back out on their own

Come build with me

I'm currently building Coinbase Business, another zero-to-one inside the largest company I've ever worked at. We're still small, but we've seen significant momentum and growth through 2025. If this kind of work excites you, DM me on X (@anantjain).