The $2 Trillion Playbook🧠, AI Superintelligence Debate🤖, Free AI Fundraising Kit for Founders💸
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In-Depth Insights 🔍
The $2 Trillion Founder Playbook: How Larry Page Reclaimed Google 🧠
Larry Page’s quiet return to power shows how structure, timing, and conviction can outlast any boardroom shift. It’s the story of a founder who turned Google’s corporate machinery into a long-term instrument of control.
The Free AI Fundraising Kit for Founders 💸
A system to manage your raise, track investors, and streamline your fundraising process. Created by Notion to help founders focus on building while running a tighter, faster capital process.
RIP SEO: The GEO Playbook for 2025 ⚰️
AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini are changing discovery, favoring answers over links. Generative Engine Optimization will determine which startups get visibility, citations, and traction in the AI web.
129 Startups Fundraising Right Now 🚨
Verified founders are sharing decks, metrics, and active rounds ready for investor access. Get full dealflow, pitch decks, and resources to connect with the next wave of startups raising capital today.
The Sequoia Way to Nail Your Pitch 💡
A framework to craft decks that align evidence with imagination and build investor conviction. Sequoia’s approach turns slides into narratives that hook, inform, and motivate investors to act. [Chris Tottman]
UGC Growth Hacks for 100x ARR 🔥
Yurii grew Fluently from $48K to over $5M ARR using 1B+ organic video views in 200 days. The strategy focuses on high-volume posting, cross-platform consistency, and tracking meaningful engagement.
Trending News ⚡
Polymarket Named Official Prediction Market Partner of the NHL 🤝
The NHL is teaming up with Polymarket to launch open, fee-free prediction markets for fans. It marks the first major sports league to embrace blockchain-based wagering at a global scale. [Polymarket]
Amazon’s Automation Revolution Unveiled 🤖
Leaked plans show Amazon preparing to automate 75% of its U.S. operations, affecting more than 600,000 roles. The company expects faster fulfillment, higher margins, and a labor shift toward robotics and AI oversight.
OpenAI’s $1 Trillion Gamble 💰
OpenAI earns $13B annually, mostly from ChatGPT subscriptions, but plans to invest over $1T this decade. The roadmap includes data centers, chips, and government contracts, betting on AI as the next global economy. [TechCrunch]
“We’re at a Turning Point” ⚠️
Bill Gates warns rising nationalism, reduced aid, and climate shocks threaten decades of progress. He remains cautiously optimistic, urging renewed global cooperation and innovation before momentum is lost. [DailyGalaxy]
Elon Musk: “AI Will Replace All Jobs” 🤖
Musk predicts a world where work becomes optional as AI and robots handle every task. He imagines universal high income and personal robots creating abundance without traditional labor. [UNB]
a16z Raises $10B to Back the Next Tech Revolution 💰
Andreessen Horowitz is raising $10B for AI, defense, and crypto, one of its largest funds to date. With $46B already under management, the firm is doubling down on America’s next wave of innovation. [cryptorank]Meta Cuts 600 Jobs in Superintelligence Labs Restructure 📉
Meta is cutting 600 roles as it reorganizes its Superintelligence Labs for efficiency. The move follows a $27B deal with Blue Owl Capital to finance new data centers for large-scale AI training. [Reuters]
OpenAI Acquires Sky to Bring AI Natively to Your Desktop ✨
OpenAI is folding Sky’s Mac-native assistant into ChatGPT to create a true desktop companion. The move aims to make AI context-aware and action-driven, helping users complete real tasks directly on their computers.
Fundraising?
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Social Media Gems 💎
Humans vs AI in Writing ✍️
Half of all web content is AI-generated, but human writing still drives insight, style, and trust. The future may focus less on typing words and more on shaping meaning and curating originality. [James Eagle]BTurning VC into a Network Effect business 🚀
Focused on scaling networks, connecting founders, and turning venture capital into a compounding engine. The goal is building the “F1 pit crew” of VC with founder intimacy and network effects driving growth. [David Booth, a16z]
Strategy Meets GPT-5: The Future of Consulting is Here 🤖
McKinsey hitting 100 billion tokens signals AI’s full arrival in strategy consulting. The era of GPT-5 Wrapper Consulting turns intelligence and data into boardroom-ready decision-making. [Tarry Singh]
AI Market Madness: The Three Stooges of Silicon Valley 💸
AMD, NVIDIA, and OpenAI compete to rewrite the rules of tech and capture AI dominance. The gold rush is chaotic, high-stakes, and full of surprising moves shaping the future of computing. [Michael Jackson]AI Superintelligence Debate 🤖
Palantir CEO Alex Karp warns banning AI won’t halt progress; leadership comes from shaping the rules. The global race now balances regulation, innovation, and control in defining the future of AI. [Jawwwn]
New Funds 💰
Burnt Island Ventures closed Fund II at $50M to back early-stage water innovation startups.
Polaris Partners aims to raise $500M for its 11th fund, continuing its focus on healthcare and tech.
HighVista Strategies closed a $270M venture capital fund to invest in early-stage and growth opportunities.
BoxGroup closed two new funds totaling $550M to double down on pre-seed and seed investments.
MTX Group launched MTX Ventures, a new fund to support AI, cloud, and public-sector innovation.
Lifeline Ventures introduced €400M Fund VI to invest in bold early-stage founders across Europe.
Asymmetric Capital Partners closed Fund II at $137M to continue backing frontier tech and infrastructure plays.
That’s a wrap for this week.
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Such a great read. Important to have the strategies in place for success.
Cracking edition, Ruben and Chris - this one reads like a front-row seat to where the money, power, and ideas are moving in real time. The $2T OpenAI roadmap feels almost like a nation-state strategy now, not a startup one, and the GEO playbook shift could quietly rewrite how every founder thinks about visibility.
What stood out most for me was your take on founder control through structure: Page’s long game at Google is such an underrated lesson in strategic patience. Do you think we’re about to see a similar era of founder “reclaims” as AI capital consolidates and boards get twitchier?