poolside & a story of loyalty
It all started in 2016 with a random email...
You may have missed it but poolside just raised $600M.
I first met Eiso on April 22, 2016. At that time, he was the co-founder and CEO of Sourced, a company helping tech firms find top developers. Antoine Martin had flagged them through a random but very well crafted email he had received from them, and that’s how I learned about it.
I happened to be in Barcelona that day and wrote to Eiso, who showed up in the afternoon. I didn’t realize he had hopped on a train from Madrid just to meet me. I was really impressed by Eiso's clarity of thought, forward-thinking approach, and the energy he brought to our conversation. He was only 26.
We ended up leading a round, and the company soon pivoted to focus on code prediction and auto-generation. This was back in 2016, well before AI had reached today’s levels of development. Their tagline was "AI ON CODE," which was definitely ahead of its time. Although the timing was too early, Eiso was the perfect fit to drive that vision.
On my first visit to their office, I met Margarida. Back then she was already a machine of execution, with the perfect energy and attitude. And if you’re looking closely, she’s a driving force within poolside today.
By the end of 2017, the team and board together decided to turn down an acquisition offer from Github that would have been worth hundreds of millions by the time Microsoft acquired them. It was during this process that Eiso met Jason, who would later become his co-founder.
Sourced faced challenges with product-market fit and traction, and we eventually had to liquidate the company. Not long after, Eiso launched a new venture called Athenian. Since he couldn’t (yet) transform how developers coded, he focused on improving how they worked and collaborated in teams. Both Frst and Kima invested, soon followed by Point Nine.
As AI gained momentum, Sourced early vision from 2016 began to come true. I’ll never forget the call when Eiso hesitated about whether to hand over Athenian and start poolside. Over the years, I told him two things:
Go on stage. You’ve always been behind the scenes, but it’s time to face the crowd. He’s doing it brilliantly now.
People regret the opportunities they didn’t take. This one might be harder to pass on than many others.
Always a gentleman, Eiso rolled over our stake from Athenian to poolside.
But it’s not just about poolside, Athenian, or Sourced. Eiso has consistently identified early-stage startups with huge potential, GitLab being one example that stands out. Beyond his vision, Eiso is an incredibly hard worker. He can power through 15 meetings a day, five days a week, without losing energy or focus. His meetings are always purposeful and efficient. This relentless drive sets him apart from many other entrepreneurs. And when he’s not in a meeting, he reads research papers, answers to emails and does everything else a founder is supposed to do !
Two other key figures stand out in this journey as you can guess: Margarida and Jason. Margarida, who was with Sourced back in 2016, has always impressed me with her kindness and effectiveness. Seeing her at poolside feels like a full-circle moment, as she and Eiso complement each other perfectly in execution.
Then there’s Jason. I didn’t know him well at first, but mutual friends spoke highly of him. When we finally met, I saw right away why he and Eiso make such a strong team. They share an authenticity that hasn’t been worn down by experience or the challenges they’ve faced. Their integrity is obvious, even though good intentions alone don’t build $100 billion companies.
Together, Eiso, Jason, Margarida, and the rest of the poolside team are truly remarkable. I have great confidence in them. This journey has been built on loyalty, perseverance, and mutual trust, and it’s wonderful to see our partnership thrive in such meaningful ways.
Congrats!