AGI Declassified🤖, EQT's Founder Test📝, Best Practices for Using Cursor👨‍💻

If you're building, investing, or just trying to stay ahead of the curve, you're in the right place. Every week, we break down the latest insights, funding news, and founder-friendly gems—no fluff, just what matters. Plus, we track the freshest VC funds deploying capital so you know where the money’s moving.

Let’s get into it 👇

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In-Depth Insights 🔍

• The Founder Test: EQT's Framework for Assessing Grit 🧗‍♂️
  EQT's guide to identifying resilient, mission-obsessed founders who’ll power through chaos. [Steph Bailey]

• AGI Declassified: What Founders Should Really Know 🤖
  Cutting through the hype - real implications of AGI for startups, now and next. [Michael Spencer]

  

• AI-First Is the New “Return to Office” 🔁
  Being AI-first isn’t optional - ignore it and your org risks becoming irrelevant fast.

• Bullish: Vertical & Compound Software 🧱
  Point solutions are out. Vertical + compound is the only way to survive in AI-era software. [OnlyCFO]

• Frameworks to Prove Your Market Is Big Enough 📈
  6 no-BS ways to prove your startup's market is VC-scale—top-down, bottoms-up, and beyond. [Sahil S]

• 89 Best Startup Essays by Top VCs and Founders 📚
  No-BS essays from Graham, Altman, Naval, Khosla, and more - organized by topic, built for action.

• Best Practices for Using Cursor, Compiled by Paras Chopra 👨‍💻
  A clean, tactical breakdown on how to actually use AI coding tools without getting buried in chaos.

• The Founder’s Pain Test 💊
  10 blunt questions to find out if your startup idea actually solves a real problem - or if you're wasting your time. [Burak Buyukdemir]

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Trending News

• Instacart acquires Wynshop to power up grocers and retailers 🛒
  Instacart is going beyond grocery delivery by scooping up Wynshop, aiming to supercharge back-end tools for grocers and retailers. [Lauren Forristal]

• Stripe takes aim at Apple’s 30% App Store cut 🍏
  Stripe is giving iOS devs a new playbook to dodge Apple’s infamous fees - a direct shot at Cupertino. [Sarah Perez]

• France posts worst VC quarter in 5 years 📉
  Deal count is down, and capital’s drying up - Q1 marks a brutal slowdown for France’s startup scene. [Leah Hodgson]

  

• Revolut launches mobile plans - yes, like a carrier 📱
  Revolut is now selling SIM cards. The fintech giant wants to be your bank and your network. [Tom Matsuda]

• Sam Altman’s Orb is scanning eyeballs across the U.S. 🧬
  Worldcoin’s biometric orb is officially on tour - scanning eyes and raising questions across America. [Lauren Goode & Kylie Robison]

  

• WhatsApp hits 3 billion users, officially elite tier 👑
  Meta’s messaging juggernaut now connects nearly 40% of the world - and it’s still climbing. [Ivan Mehta]

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Social Media Gems 💎

• The Ultimate VC Meme Starterpack 🧢
  A+ humor for anyone who’s ever survived a pitch deck and a Patagonia vest. [Camille Zivre]

  

• Tech Stack by ARR Stage 🧰
  Clean breakdown of tools by ARR stage - use it to audit gaps and plan your next stack move fast. [Darrell Alfonso]

  

• The Current State of Digital Advertising 📲

  Google’s grip on digital ads is slipping. E-comm ads are rising. Social is now just media. Attention is shifting - and so is the money. [Eric Flaningam]

  

• How vibe coding works 😂

  When the error becomes the answer - coding energy at its finest. [Alex]

  

• Ex-Google CEO: AI Could Use 99% of Global Electricity ⚡

  AI’s energy use could jump from 3% to 99%. Compute is the new arms race. [Linas Beliūnas]

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New Funds 💰

• Decarbon8 US Impact Fund kicks off 2025 cycle to fund cleantech startups reducing carbon emissions across the U.S.

• Volution launched $100M fund to back early-stage B2B software startups.

• Blockchain for Good Alliance teams up with UNDP to start a global accelerator and fund for blockchain-based impact ventures.

• P101 Closed €250M Programma 103 fund for European tech investments.

• EQT Ventures debuts “The Founder Six” program - operational funding and mentorship for Europe’s top early-stage founders.

• EWOR raises €60M to invest in early-stage founders through its entrepreneurial education + funding platform.

• Rebel Capital new fund targeting high-performing, capital-efficient SMB software companies in overlooked markets.

• Ara Partners closed inaugural infrastructure fund to back decarbonization-focused projects.

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That’s a wrap for this week.

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