#241 Startup collapse to $21M a16z raise: Sphere's Nick Rudder on Aussie Grit in the US, Selling to CFOs and Superhero wife

Episode #241 features Nicholas Rudder, Founder & CEO of Sphere — which recently raised a US$21M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), to help some of the world’s fastest-growing companies, including Lovable, Linktree and Deel, navigate complex cross-border tax compliance using AI.Nick shares the defining crucible of his journey: Growing up in Europe and Australia, then moving to the US chasing a dream, losing a co-founder, rebuilding as a solo founder, navigating a high-risk twin pregnancy that forced his family out of the US, and holding conviction when belief and momentum collapsed.He breaks down how deep CFO discovery led to Sphere’s model of using AI as a junior analyst to interpret global tax rules, the magic behind zero-churn customer retention, motivating engineers and more— offering rare insight into building a durable company in a high-stakes, regulated industry.It’s time to explore your curiosity — please enjoy.________To support this podcast, check out our some of our sponsors & get discounts:→ $1,000 off Vanta: Your compliance superpower — vanta.com/high→ Find out more about the Law Firm Allens and how they can help your company today at www.allens.com.auIf you're keen to discuss sponsorship and partnering with us or recommend future guests, email us at [email protected] today!Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Notion and more.________Show notes and more episodes hereFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterGet in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly hereContact us via our website________The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, Tennis Australia), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary/Chief, Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep) and more.