The killer questions to use in interviews
Plus: A six day work week?
· 830 words
Melanie Gabriel & Christian Woese
September 09, 2025 • Read time: 4 minutes
Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,
Fashion brand GAP’s latest marketing campaign went viral with girl group KATSEYE dancing in denim. Their new CEO, known for having brought back the Barbie brand from the shadows, seems to have pulled off a new stint. Crowdfunders of Revolut might be harder to convince as new customers. Their 645x return on an average 2k investment gives them a more than $1.2m payout. If we could just turn back time. Follow the Gradient and stay tuned.
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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party
ElevenLabs eyes $6bn valuation in secondary share sale
Voice AI startup ElevenLabs is reportedly targeting a $6bn valuation in a secondary share sale. Backed by a16z, Sequoia, and Iconiq, the firm is riding a wave of VC Fomo sweeping Europe’s AI scene. European AI-native startups have already raised €6.6bn this year, with headline-grabbing rounds from Helsing, Isomorphic, Lovable, and Mistral.
Financial Times pulls the plug on The Next Web
The Financial Times is shutting down The Next Web’s events and media arms by the end of September, ending a 20-year run for one of Europe’s best-known tech conferences. Attendance has plummeted from 17,500 in 2019 to just 4,500 this year. TNW’s coworking business will survive, but the FT’s bet on media and events looks to have quietly fizzled.
ASML to lead $2B round for France’s Mistral AI at $11.7bn valuation
Chipmaking equipment maker ASML is pumping €1.3bn into Mistral AI’s €1.7bn raise, becoming its top shareholder and snagging a board seat in the process. The deal values Mistral at €10B pre-money - Europe’s most valuable AI startup to date. It also tightens ties between two EU tech heavyweights as Europe scrambles to curb dependence on U.S. and Chinese AI giants.
What do you meme?
Food for thought
New rules for B2B SaaS in Europe?
The EU Data Act comes into effect on September 12 and, as Sebastian Becker points out, contains a little known clause: Customers will be able to switch providers at any time. Compensation for the old contract is only applicable if explicitly stated.
Is this the death of revenue predictability in B2B SaaS?
Joachim van Erps has a differentiated view:
“But in reality, contracts were never the main source of lock-in. The real stickiness is in process lock-in: • integrations into core workflows • data formats and APIs • employee training and change management • the migration cost and risk no CFO takes lightly
That’s why companies rarely switch providers on a whim, even if the law now says they can”
What’s your take?
Where do the junior talents go?
AI has often been described as “your perfect intern”. Where do new school graduates start their careers then, if the AI is already there assisting the senior workers? A new study of Harvard University shows first indications of AI affecting junior positions more significantly than senior ones.
Are you posting for your clients or peers? Be honest!
If your LinkedIn posts gain traction, is this good for your business, or just your profile? This is the question Alex Smith poses in this thoughtful post. LinkedIn celebrates emotions and personal stories - but is a post which gets you Likes a post which gets you clients?
A six day work week?
Agree or disagree?
Events happening this week
We constantly update this quarter’s must-attend events for startups in Europe list.
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From us
Asking the right questions to a candidate during an interview process is what everybody seeks to do. Yet finding the right ones is tough. Unicorn CEO Joel Hellermark of Sana collected this list of questions that his followership and founder peers told him they prefer to ask the most. The ones which caught our attention:
Pick an area you know really well. Take 5 minutes to prepare and then teach me everything I should know about it.
What distinguishes someone who is good from someone who is exceptional in your role?
Tell me about a time you took unexpected initiative. Can you tell me about another?
What is a piece of critical feedback you've received that was hard to hear?
What is the most valuable lesson you've learned from a colleague?