Love the problem, not the solution
Plus: How to close deals when prospects are OOO
· 656 words
Melanie Gabriel & Christian Woese
December 24, 2024 • Read time: 4 minutes
Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,
Tech in 2024 boiled down to three things: AI, AI, and AI. Yet, Google’s Year in Search 2024 reveals that a good part of humanity’s interest still goes into sports. Will we at one point see two AIs knocking themselves ever higher scores at Candy Crush? A few things are clear: in 2025, Tech will actually be about more than just AI, and company building will continue to be about more than just Tech. Follow the Gradient and stay tuned.
PS I: The survey about Follow the Gradient that would take 1 min of your time but mean the world to us is still open. 🙃
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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party
Databricks secures a $10bn Series J funding
Data warehouse firm Databricks has raised $10bn in a Series J funding round led by OpenAI investor Thrive Capital, valuing the company at more than $62bn. Highlighting a trend to “stay private for longer”, Databricks joins lonely ranks with SpaceX on companies which move to a J round. They can co-host their funding party with AI search company Perplexity which closed its latest financing round of $500m at a $9bn valuation.
New investigations against TikTok in Europe
After the US, TikTok is now also being investigated by the European commission. The commission has opened formal proceedings against TikTok on election risks under the Digital Services Act. After indications of foreign interference through its platform in the Romanian election, the proceedings are now likely to trigger extensive reviews of the platform and its information practices.
What do you meme?
Food for thought
A playbook on how to make your customers dislike you?
Carta requires you to book a (hard-to-find) meeting to submit a cancellation request of your subscription. Seems more like a way to manage (very) short-term retention instead of long-term customer satisfaction…
Is the AI revolution a “US AI revolution”?
Palantir CEO Alex Karp gave a brutal assessment on the US dominance in the AI race and Europe’s urge to regulate the little innovation that is there.
This is what gives us motivation to push forward with Follow the Gradient - let’s make the EU Tech ecosystem relevant again in the world!
The devil lies in the details funding terms
Walker Deibel uses Jessica Alba’s The Honest Company to illustrate how a 2x liquidation preference can limit founders from benefiting from early valuation gains. If terms like Minority Control, Board Flipping Rights, Drag-Along Rights, or Anti-Dilution Protection are new to you, his insights are essential.
Learn to love the problem, not the solution
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Smart hack
Year-end deals often spill into January - but they don’t have to. Sales expert Chris van Praag shares three strategies to create urgency without resorting to discounts:
⚡ Tie it to goals: “Shall we lock this in now so your team is ready to hit the ground running in January?”
⚡ Create FOMO: “Sign this month to secure the best onboarding availability before others jump in.”
⚡ Leverage downtime: "If we finalize this now, we can schedule onboarding during the holidays when your team might have more time." (Ideally you've already discussed capacity before pitching this)
Pro tip: Set realistic expectations early. Ask, “Does wrapping this up before the holidays seem feasible, or will you need more time?” If it’s a no, focus on deals more likely to close.