Key metrics investors look for
plus: How to boost your personal productivity
· 741 words
Christian Woese & Melanie Gabriel
September 03, 2024 • Read time: 4 minutes
Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,
Rumor has it OpenAI is releasing an updated model this autumn, named “Strawberry”. Is it named after Sam Altman’s backyard berries or the latest in self-taught reasoning? Either way, it’s not slowing them down—word is, they’re preparing a new fundraising round with Thrive Capital and Apple, eyeing a whopping $100 billion valuation. This could set a new valuation record for a "startup." Follow the Gradient and stay tuned.
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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party
Uber’s big bet on driverless tech from the UK
Uber is doubling down on autonomous driving by making a strategic investment in UK-based startup Wayve, extending Wayve’s recent $1.05 billion Series C. Founded in 2017 in Cambridge, Wayve has raised over $1.3 billion from investors like SoftBank, NVIDIA, and Microsoft. Wayve’s self-learning AI is being tested on Jaguar I-Paces and Ford E-Transits in the UK. This move could further solidify Uber’s lead in the autonomous mobility race, especially as Waymo’s robotaxis are already available on the Uber platform in Phoenix. Uber is increasingly becoming the go-to partner for startups looking to commercialize their autonomous driving tech.
Austrian magic in the US
Magic AI, founded by two Austrians and based in San Francisco, just raised $320 million to create the world’s most advanced AI programmer. Backed by big names like former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Sequoia and Atlassian, Magic AI is making waves. Wouldn’t it be great to see more European founders creating this kind of magic at home?
Bluesky: silent winner after X’s fallout?
A Brazilian court’s decision to ban X seems to be benefiting its rivals, especially Bluesky. The microblogging platform reported “all-time highs for activity” with 500,000 new users in just two days. This impressive growth comes from a platform that only opened to the public in February and now boasts over 6 million users as of May 2024. Meanwhile, Elon Musk grapples with Brazilian authorities over X’s refusal to block certain accounts—going so far as to call the country’s chief justice 'Voldemort'. Social platforms are anything but boring these days.
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Food for thought
Metrics investors look for - per stage
Funding boost for ClimaTech?
ClimaTech startups often grapple with the need to secure significant funds to build production facilities for novel - or: first of a kind (FOAK) - technologies. Existing project financing techniques, such as Offtake agreements, may help here: these agreements secure commitments to buy future products under defined terms—even though these products may be pre-production. Such tangible proofs of future customer’s buying intent may proof helpful in securing early-stage investment funds.
Do we have a talent gap in Europe?
Two things are often cited as key for scaling a company: funding and talent. Europe’s funding gap to the US is well documented, the apparent talent gap is more subtle. You may know a couple of people in your circle who have scaled to €10m ARR—yet how many people do you know who have scaled to €100m ARR?
In the US you can hire a manager of a $1bn division from Big Tech to scale your company - who do you hire in Europe?
How do we grow experienced talents?
Mark your calendar
Germany
Netherlands
Amsterdam Founders Table, 5 September at 6:30-9:45 pm [Register here]
Switzerland
Horizon Day 24 in Zurich, InsurTech, 5 September [Program]
UK
GreenTech Festival in London, 5 September [Program]
World Finance Forum in London, 5 September [Program]
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Smart hack
We found Marc Andressen’s guide to productivity a useful hack to re-think your working habits—full read here.
One good read
The latest essay from Y Combinator’s Paul Graham: