Sam Ross

I’m thrilled to share that @numeral has raised a $35M Series B, led by Mayfield, at a $350M valuation! Turns out, sales tax and VAT have gotten so complex that we need AI and millions of dollars in VC funding to make it simple again. This brings us to $57M in funding, including our $18 million Series A led by Benchmark Capital in March of this year. We are 1,057 days into building Numeral, and I’m humbled to say that we’ve processed over $5 billion in transaction volume, filed 150,000 sales tax returns for +2,000 paying customers, and achieved 3.5x year-over-year revenue growth. Numeral is the end-to-end platform for sales tax and VAT compliance. I couldn't be prouder of what we’ve accomplished… but there's still a lot left to build, many new customers to serve, and a heck of a lot more sales tax filings to, well, file. So what’s next? Global coverage: Growing internationally? Our in-house platform currently covers 60+ countries, and we are expanding to many more by the end of the year. Integrations: As you may have noticed, we’ve launched several new integrations over the last few months, including with Orb, Sequence, Tabs, and others. Some exciting integrations to come! Automation: Could Numeral be the most boring AI company? Our AI may not be the flashiest, but our automations mean you'll never have to log into a government portal or listen to hold music again. Our team: We are currently hiring for multiple roles across our organization. Ready to join us? Matt and I are incredibly grateful to our customers and team. Thank you for making this milestone possible. And a special thank you to our wonderful investors: @MayfieldFund, @SPangulur, @benchmark, @chetanp, @ycombinator, @gustaf, @uncorkcap, @susanwliu, @FundersClub, @mittal, @mantisVC, @AlexPallNY, @ShaanVP, @lennysan, @moizali, @mrsharma, @ringmybeller, @khency6, @asturnerr, @maariabajwa, and so many others.

California will begin taxing most SaaS and remotely accessed software on January 1, 2027. Until now, software accessed through a browser generally stayed outside the state’s sales tax base. The new rules cover prewritten software regardless of whether it is downloaded, delivered physically, or accessed remotely. That puts standard SaaS subscriptions inside the taxable category. Software built specifically for one customer can still be exempt. Digital books, music, video, video games, digital assets, and certain cloud infrastructure services are also excluded. For online sales, tax will generally be based on the customer’s location using the address in the seller’s records. Software companies selling into California should use the next six months to: - Confirm how each product is classified - Check whether they have sales tax nexus in California - Make sure billing systems can calculate tax based on customer location - Review separately priced custom software and services I posted about this when it was still being considered about a month ago. It is now signed into law. PS: If you need help getting ready for this, we’re happy to help. This is exactly what we handle for SaaS companies at Numeral.

Florida changed several sales tax rules on July 1. The state rate remains 6% but a few exemptions and tax holidays now work differently. The main changes include: 1) The annual back-to-school sales tax holiday now runs from July 20 through August 20 2) A hunting, fishing, and camping holiday runs from September 1 through December 31 this year 3) Portable propane tanks with a capacity of 20 pounds or less are now permanently exempt 4) Tickets to qualifying professional tennis tournaments are exempt through June 30, 2029 Each category comes with its own definitions, dates, and, in some cases, price limits. If you sell affected products into Florida, make sure the right items become tax-free during the right windows. The first one begins July 20.

TIL Texas sales tax filings can ask restaurants about oyster shells. One prompt asks whether you’re taking credit for purchases of Texas farm raised oysters. Another asks whether you’re taking credit for participating in an oyster shell recycling program. Sounds fake. But the policy itself makes sense. Oyster shells can help rebuild reefs, so Texas created a credit around it. The funny part is the filing experience. You go in expecting sales, deductions, tax due, maybe a few marketplace adjustments. Then the state asks if you have anything to report on the oyster shell front. Anyway. Please keep your receipts and your shells organized.

@parkerconrad @EverettRandle ”Introspection should be avoided”

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watched a guy at Starbucks do the full ai founder saturday: - post “weekends are when real builders create separation” - check phone for 30 minutes - listen to a podcast about agents - decide every business is getting replaced - open notes app - write “vertical ai agent for operators” - stare at it - add “workflow layer” - feel dangerous - post “the next 6 months will be insane” - go to brunch - tell everyone he’s in monk mode

In 2003, a federal court had to spend time on a very important national question: Are Marvel action figures human? The answer was important because the tariff code taxed dolls representing human beings at 12%, while toys representing non-human creatures were taxed at 6.8%. Toy Biz, Marvel's toy subsidiary, preferred 6.8%. So they argued that their figures were not dolls representing human beings. They pointed to the claws, armor, tentacles, wings, mutant features, alien features, and other very normal human characteristics. The court agreed. So yes, somewhere in US legal history, Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, X-Men characters, and other Marvel figures were part of a case about whether they were human enough for tariff purposes. That answer helped lower the duty rate from 12% to 6.8%. People think tax is spreadsheets and paperwork. Sometimes it’s a judge looking at Doctor Octopus and deciding he belongs in the non-human creature bucket. PS: Most tax problems are less funny than this. @Numeral helps businesses stay on top of sales tax anyway.

is he right or is he right?

SpaceX is public now, which means we are getting dangerously close to someone asking: Do you pay sales tax on Mars? According to Google, no. No permanent human inhabitants. No active economy. No governing body. No retail markets. Beautiful. A planet with dust storms, radiation, and no breathable atmosphere somehow has a cleaner sales tax setup than New Jersey. Enjoy it while it lasts. The first time someone sells a SpaceX hoodie, a Starlink router, or a $69 dehydrated burrito on Mars, the questions begin. Where is the seller based? Where is the buyer located? Did the sale happen on Earth, in orbit, on Mars, or inside whatever billing system processed the payment? And does the ship-to address matter if the ship-to address is “red planet, left after Olympus Mons”? Give it enough time and some state will publish a 20-page PDF called “Guidance for Marketplace Facilitators Engaged in Interplanetary Commerce.” Mars is safe for now. Earth, unfortunately, is still Earth. We built @Numeral for that.

Ohio projected its data center sales tax exemption would cost $136 million in 2025. It cost $1.57 billion 🤯 Virginia's version is even more striking. When they wrote the law in 2008, the estimated annual cost was $1.5 million. It now runs $1.9 billion a year. More than 1,000x the original estimate. Everyone talks about AI infrastructure as a power story. Who gets the electricity, who pays for the grid, where the data centers go. There's a sales tax story sitting underneath all of it. When states compete for the AI buildout, they compete through tax exemptions. Meta, Google, and Amazon are holding 15-year contracts. Ohio's governor vetoed a bill to eliminate the program. Virginia's exemption fight has stalled the entire state budget. Sales tax is usually treated like plumbing. Nobody cares until the pipe is carrying $1.6 billion. PS: Ohio and Virginia, we understand what you're going through. For founders dealing with slightly fewer than $1.6B in sales tax problems, there’s @Numeral.

Rival CEO invited me to a sound bath to brag about his new employee wellness program. He proudly told me he bought everyone Oura rings and brought in a breathwork coach to prevent burnout. I smiled gently. I didn’t tell him about our protocol. Last month, I replaced every office chair with low-voltage recovery seating. If someone slouches, the chair delivers a small corrective buzz. If someone says “I’m feeling a little drained,” the chair increases circulation for three seconds. If someone opens Slack during lunch, the chair reminds their nervous system to return to the present moment. His team is tracking REM sleep and discussing boundaries. My team is becoming one with the current. Shock your posture. Shock the market.

We've been having some fun with video content at @numeral, and stories like Fishwife's are exactly why we do what we do. Love how this came together, Becca!

This is funny. And also the clearest explanation of tax infrastructure I've ever seen. Japan's PM won an election promising to cut food sales tax to 0%. In a cost of living crisis, cutting food tax looked like an easy political win. Then she tried to implement it. Point-of-sale systems at major retail chains were never built to process a 0% rate. A full overhaul takes up to a year. The PM called it "an embarrassment for Japan" in parliament. The press gave it a name: reji-kabe, register wall. The OECD flagged the plan as too costly. Fiscal hawks raised alarms about Japan's 230% debt-to-GDP ratio. Political opponents pushed back. None of it changed the policy. A cash register did. Because… get this, 1% is what the software can handle :)

Founder who said “we have sales tax handled” showing me 480 screenshots from Shopify and Amazon

was walking through a park in sf and saw a guy pushing a high-end uppababy stroller. i peeked inside expecting to see a newborn. no baby. four NVIDIA H100s buckled into the stroller, getting some fresh air. i nodded at the dad. he nodded back. “keeping them cool,” he whispered. “nature is healing,” i replied. i love this city.

Saw this on Reddit this week. $28k in back taxes across 12 states. Business account has $12k left. This person was selling custom t-shirts, doing well, paying himself, and had no idea he may have created sales tax exposure across multiple states. His accountant only caught it while prepping 2025 returns. By then: back taxes, penalties, interest. $28k across states he’d barely thought about. Now, the comments pointed out a few important wrinkles. Maybe the Etsy sales should have been carved out because marketplace facilitators usually collect and remit. Maybe the Texas printer created physical nexus. Maybe the accountant counted some thresholds wrong. But that’s the thing about sales tax. One question turns into MANY: Which sales channel? Which state? Which threshold? Revenue or transactions? Marketplace or direct? Economic nexus or physical nexus? When did the obligation start? You keep depositing checks until someone runs the numbers and tells you the answer is less obvious than you thought. The Wayfair ruling in 2018 meant crossing certain revenue or order thresholds in a state can create an obligation, even if you’ve never been there, never had a warehouse there, and never thought about it. A lot of founders find out the same way this guy did. Too late. If you're doing decent volume online and haven't checked your nexus exposure, that's worth 10 minutes of your time today. And if you’d rather get someone else look at it, check out @Numeral.

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sales tax is strange because the answer to “is this taxable?” can be - yes - no - sometimes - only if bundled - only if delivered electronically - what county are they in - please stop asking simple questions

@allenwalton Congrats man amazing story!

June 2, 2024 was an awful day for me that eventually turned into a meltdown that lasted the entire summer. We had maybe 25% our of usual Shopify sales that day. I mentioned it to a few people, thinking it was weird. Things got a little better, then worse, eventually led to a 50% drop in sales that I couldn't explain. Something was wrong and I didn't know what. Maybe 9 months later, I concluded that a pixel implementation service we used had screwed something up, causing conversions not to be tracked, which results in adspend dwindling down to 10% of what it used to be. This was also peak Temu, which I think was eating a more sizable chunk of business than I had realized. But in the face of half my business drying up, I did not take it well. Started having a lot of anxiety attacks. I thought I was going to have to fire everyone, shut down the company, and get a job. I couldn't be alone in my own house. Once the sun started going down, I started dooming over everything and couldn't relax enough to fall asleep. I was getting probably 3-4 hours of sleep a night and couldn't think clearly. I couldn't understand why nothing was working. To make things worse, 4 months later my house caught fire and we lost everything we owned. And then I had another kid a month after that. It was hard. I have a lot of people to thank for helping me during that time and want to single out a few. Want to thank @phipps for his endless optimism, friendship and team for fixing the problems with my ad account, turning things around. @AnythingIan for going over numbers and coming up with a plan when it was 1am his time and I couldn't sleep @philiphodgen for reaching out and taking my calls when I needed someone to talk to. @JeffreyDebolt for becoming my fractional CFO/motivational speaker and guiding me through the financials every single week. My wife for being supportive and taking on more of the load when I couldn't. And everyone who took my call and told me I was going to be okay. I think the single best thing I did that entire time was pick up the phone and talk to my friends about what I was going through. It's exactly 2 years later. Today was our best sales day since Black Friday of 2023 and hasn't been this profitable since 2021. It was a hard time I wouldn't wish on anyone, and I'm glad I made it out the other end.

California might tax SaaS. Governor Newsom's proposal would expand state sales tax to cloud software, SaaS, and some AI platforms. Base rate is 7.25%, higher with local add-ons, projected to generate $1.1 billion in year one and roughly $2 billion annually. California's been one of the big exceptions for SaaS - software companies could often sell into the state without the same treatment as physical products. That may change. The more interesting point is the direction of travel. Sales tax started with physical goods, then caught ecommerce after Wayfair in 2018, then marketplaces became collectors, now it's reaching software and cloud tools. The tax code lags the business model, then catches up all at once. A lot of DTC brands kept operating under old assumptions after Wayfair until sales tax showed up in audits, fundraises, or acquisitions. At @Numeral, we watched that happen to founder after founder. SaaS and AI may be entering that same moment. The proposal still needs to pass the legislature. But when one of the biggest SaaS markets in the country moves this direction, it's worth paying attention. Sales tax feels boring until it becomes a diligence issue.

Always proud to see the Numeral team combining remote and in-person work outside