Stories Global companies in Sri Lanka
A Stanford graduate built a $15M business placing Sri Lankan talent with US startups. Meet Oceans
Ian Myers worked remotely with a Sri Lankan team for two years, then built a company around what he saw.
- $15M
- annual recurring revenue
- 600+
- client companies
- 86%
- first match success rate
In late 2021, Ian Myers, a Stanford graduate and former VC, launched Oceans from a simple observation. After two years working remotely with a team in Sri Lanka, he realised the talent was world class and almost nobody outside the country knew it.
He started placing Sri Lankan executive assistants with US startup founders. After the tenth hire, his friends kept asking for more. Oceans was born.
Three years later
$15M in annual recurring revenue. 600+ companies as clients. Placements with Morning Brew, beehiiv, True Classic and hundreds of other startups and agencies across the US.
How it works
Oceans selects the top 1% of talent, trains them on the latest AI tools, matches them in 24 hours and places them within two weeks. It reports an 86% first match success rate, and clients save 50 to 80% compared to US hires.
There is nowhere on the planet with a better price-to-talent ratio than Sri Lanka.
Ian Myers, founder, Oceans
The model has expanded beyond executive assistants into marketing, finance and operations specialists, with 600+ Sri Lankan professionals now embedded in global teams.
A bootstrapped, profitable, $15M business built on Sri Lankan talent.
Sources
Live on LinkedIn
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