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. Just what matters. Plus, we track the freshest VC funds deploying capital so you know where the money’s moving.
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In-Depth Insights 🔍
The New RL Training Grounds 🤖
Jamin Ball explores how reinforcement learning is moving from games into real-world enterprise systems. The next generation of infrastructure companies will turn complex environments into trainable simulations with built-in observability and evaluation. [Jamin Ball]
The Emerging AI-Native GTM Playbook: 6 Patterns from Companies Racing to $100M 🚀
Bocar Dia studies how startups like Lovable, Gamma, and Harvey are scaling through product-led growth, credit-based pricing, and efficient distribution. Their success depends on speed, clarity, and execution over traditional sales-heavy playbooks. [Bocar Dia]
The Tizz Rizz Founder Matrix 😅
A viral X chart mapping founders from quiet builders to charismatic fundraisers. A witty snapshot of startup personalities that feels both entertaining and true.
10 Resources That Save Founders Years of Trial and Error 💡
A curated toolkit from Rubén Domínguez Ibar with pitch decks, investor databases, and financial models. Each resource helps founders avoid common mistakes and focus on building with precision.
The Top 12 Reasons Startups Fail 💀
Drawing from over 110 post-mortems, this report reveals the main causes of failure: cash shortages, weak demand, and poor execution. Most startups fade from small missteps that compound over time.
Parallel Coding Agents Are Changing Developer Workflows 👩💻
Developers now manage several coding assistants at once for research, testing, and fixes. This shift turns programming into a collaborative process where coordination matters more than output speed. [Simon Willison’s Weblog]Hard Lessons from Building AI Products ⚙️
Olivia Koshy shares lessons from early product misfires and fast model updates. The key takeaways are to validate ideas quickly, measure user value early, and adapt as technology and expectations evolve. [Hex Technologies Inc.]
Trending News ⚡
Gradient Ventures Breaks Away from Google 💼
Google’s former in-house AI fund becomes an independent firm backed by external LPs. Under Darian Shirazi and Zach Bratun-Glennon, it aims to compete more aggressively in early-stage AI investing. [WSJ]CoreWeave Acquires Monolith to Expand Industrial AI Capabilities 🏭
The acquisition brings machine learning deeper into manufacturing and testing workflows. CoreWeave is strengthening vertical AI infrastructure and improvingdata center utilization. [Constellation Research]
AI Automation Startup n8n Raises $180M at $2.5B Valuation 💸
Berlin-based n8n secured new capital led by Accel to scale its orchestration platform. The company helps enterprises automate workflows across hundreds of apps with AI-driven coordination. [Tech EU]Everything OpenAI Announced at DevDay 2025 🧠
The company introduced AgentKit for autonomous workflows, an Apps SDK for app integration, and new tools like GPT-5 Pro, Sora 2, and Codex. The updates outline a vision of ChatGPT as a full AI operating system. [ZDNET]
NYSE Owner ICE Invests Up to $2B in Polymarket 💰
Intercontinental Exchange is taking a major stake in the crypto prediction platform at an $8B valuation. The partnership aims to merge event-driven markets with traditional finance and expand tokenized data products. [Investopedia]Reflection AI Raises $2B to Build an Open Frontier Lab 🤖
Founded by ex-DeepMind researchers, the startup is developing large-scale Mixture-of-Experts models with backing from Nvidia, Sequoia, and Eric Schmidt. It seeks to anchor U.S. leadership in open AI research. [TechCrunch]Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Software Faces Federal Investigation 🚗
U.S. regulators are probing dozens of traffic incidents involving Tesla’s autonomy system. The inquiry challenges the company’s safety claims and could reshape oversight of advanced driver assistance technology. [TechCrunch]OpenAI Expands ChatGPT Go Plan Across 16 Asian Markets 🌏
The $5 subscription now supports local currencies in Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, and other regions. The expansion widens accessibility while bolstering OpenAI’s global revenue base. [TechCrunch]
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Social Media Gems 💎
AI Agents: When Context Matters More Than Hype 🤖
Nearly 80% of corporate AI agent projects fail before launch. Rubén Domínguez Ibar argues success depends on judgment and integration with existing automation, not blind adoption.
Sam Altman on Rethinking OpenAI’s Business Model 💰
Rising costs from Sora may push OpenAI toward per-generation pricing or ads. Altman stresses one rule above all: user trust outweighs any revenue strategy.The Countries Using AI the Most 🌍
Microsoft and AI for Good Lab data show the UAE and Singapore leading global AI adoption. Nordic countries follow close behind, while the U.S., Japan, and South Korea lag.
10 Essential Resources Every Founder Should Use 🚀
Rubén Domínguez Ibar curates VC tools, models, and AI copilots that make startup execution faster and smarter. A toolkit built for speed, precision, and investor readiness.
Stockholm’s Next 50 Unicorns Are Already in Motion 🦄
With Klarna’s IPO, Sana’s exit, and new stars like Lovable and Legora, Stockholm’s startup scene is surging. Johan Torssell’s Venture Mafia map shows five founder networks taking shape.
The Timeless Rules of Clear Writing ✍️
A 1980 ad still defines great writing. Josue Valles breaks down lessons like outlining, thinking like your reader, and choosing clarity over cleverness. Simplicity always wins.
New Funds 💰
Ascenta Capital closed its maiden $325M fund to back early-stage startups across technology and software sectors.
Origin Ventures announced the closing of its sixth fund at $140M, continuing its focus on seed and Series A investments.
May Ventures raised over €30M for its first fund, targeting early-stage European founders.
Xcellerant Ventures launched the Jetstream Venture Fund to invest in AI and frontier technology startups.
MARKD secured an additional $500M to expand its portfolio in the insurtech and fintech ecosystems.
Sugar Free Capital closed its first $32M fund, focusing on health, wellness, and consumer brands.
Crystal Venture Partners closed Fund I at $33M to support emerging founders in deeptech and SaaS.
TCG Crossover closed TCGX Fund III at a massive $1.3B, investing across public and private biotech companies.
Wave Function Ventures closed its $15M DeepTech Fund I to back scientific founders building advanced technologies.
Lisk launched a $15M venture capital fund to support blockchain-based startups in its ecosystem.
That’s a wrap for this week.
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Which one are you on the founders chart? 😂
It’s exciting to see how approaches like credit-based pricing and product-led growth are gradually becoming the new normal, offering a fresh and complementary perspective alongside the traditional sales model.