The split on the pie is Matrix pitched in $47 million and Valar Ventures, $20 million. Valar Ventures is an investment vehicle of Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and the first external investor in Facebook. The announcement hammered away at themes that are likely to emerge with more volume as Xero grows. A prepared statement from Andrew McCormack of Valar said that “The incumbent software vendors in the small business accounting space are constrained by channel conflicts and legacy interfaces." Incumbent means Intuit's QuickBooks and that same message was reiterated in different words by Jamie Sutherland, president of U.S. operations. "“Xero delivers a credible alternative to QuickBooks. Xero had the advantage of starting a fresh, rather than all the constraints that Intuit has with its legacy products."