A new economy is emerging before us. Technology has enabled unprecedented communication and commerce across borders, expanding our world in the process.

In 2019, I was surprised to discover that digital commerce faced a common goliath: governments were enforcing sales tax collection on merchants and software businesses in new ways. This stemmed from a 2018 US Supreme Court ruling, as governments realized how much of the economy had moved online. They wanted their share of the revenue.

As a former public sector investment banker, I felt some sympathy for local governments—sales tax is a major source of funding for schools, water utilities, fire departments, and many other essential services. Yet the former venture capitalist in me felt outrage: these policies placed an enormous burden on digital businesses, which now had to track their customers' locations. Who has time for that?

In 2020, Anrok was founded to empower businesses to operate in any market. The team quickly built the leading global product, winning over thousands of users and managing compliance for tens of billions in customer revenue. We're proud to be the compliance infrastructure for some of the most innovative companies around the globe.

As I peer into the near future, technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace. What remains constant amid this change are our legal and governmental institutions. As commerce continues to evolve, tax compliance isn't optional—it's fundamental to doing business.

It is no longer enough to build something that businesses want. We need to build something that businesses cannot succeed without.