The smart way to pick your next startup job
Plus: Is ‘EU Inc.’ the future of European startups?
· 910 words
Melanie Gabriel & Christian Woese
October 15, 2024 • Read time: 4 minutes
Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,
It’s been a hell of a week: Elon Musk went full sci-fi with the unveiling of robotic humanoids and robotaxis at a surreal Los Angeles event, while he also successfully completed the catching of its Starship upon landing. Meanwhile, WordPress’s founder is bringing more drama than your favorite Netflix show, as his all-out battle with WP Engine rages on. No one’s quite sure what it’s even about anymore, but one thing’s for sure: Tech never stops surprising us. Follow the Gradient and stay tuned!
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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party
Founders push for ‘EU Inc’ to revolutionize European startups
A coalition of Europe’s top founders and investors, including leaders from Personio, DeepL, and Seedcamp, have launched a petition calling for the creation of a unified pan-European startup entity—‘EU Inc.’ Their goal? To simplify scaling, standardize cross-border operations, and create a unified employee stock options framework. With support from influential figures like Ursula von der Leyen and Mario Draghi, this movement could remove bureaucratic barriers and bring much-needed agility to the European startup ecosystem. Founders, are you ready for EU Inc?
AI innovations sweep Nobel prizes
Demis Hassabis and John Jumper from DeepMind received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on the AI model AlphaFold, which revolutionizes protein structure prediction, accelerating research in drug development and disease diagnosis. Meanwhile, John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton (also known as the "Godfather of AI”) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering contributions to artificial neural networks, foundational to modern machine learning systems like ChatGPT.
Is breaking up Google the right move?
Last Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice suggested breaking up Google’s $2tn empire—spanning Chrome, the Play Store, and Android—as a possible remedy for its monopolistic practices. While Google is facing multiple lawsuits, including over its dominance in online search, many argue that splitting the company up might miss the real issue. Instead of targeting its size, the focus should be on limiting Google's ability to entrench its power through exclusive deals that make it the default search engine. Would breaking up really solve anything, or is it just a misguided solution to a much more complex problem?
What do you meme?
Food for thought
Is privacy in public officially dead?
Two Harvard students created I-XRAY, a system that uses Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses and AI to instantly identify strangers in public, revealing personal details like phone numbers and addresses. By streaming video to Instagram and using facial recognition, they gained people's trust by pretending to know them. Though just a demo, the privacy concerns are real—this tool could easily be misused, raising questions about whether privacy in public still exists.
How to choose a startup to work for
If you don’t want to found but still work in a startup, finding the right fit might be tricky. Dan Hockenmaier's "Hierarchy of Needs" can help. Ask yourself:
Stage: What level of risk are you comfortable with—early-stage chaos or later-stage stability?
Team: Do you trust the founders and team to succeed?
Metrics: Check growth, retention, and unit economics—are they healthy?
Role: Does your role align with your strengths and the company’s needs?
Compensation: Balance salary vs. equity—reflecting the company's stage and your impact.
Evaluate each step to find the right fit!
From Money Tigers to Höhle der Löwen: A global TV show
The original show kicked off in Japan in 2001 as "Money Tigers," and since then, the "Die Höhle der Löwen" format (as it’s known in Germany and Switzerland) has become a hit in over 50 countries. Now, the OMR podcast "Rabbit Hole" dives deep into the success of the German version – an entertaining audio documentary. We like!
Mark your calendar
France
dotAI conference in Paris, 17-18 October [Program]
Media opportunity: Sifted journalist Daphné Leprince-Ringuet will be there - get in touch with her.
Germany
eMove360° Future Mobility Conference in Munich, 15-17 October [Program]
HUG in Berlin, HR event, 17 October [Program]
Media opportunity: Sifted journalist Miriam Partington will attend. Drop her a line.
Netherlands
CES Unveiled in City, 15 October [Program]
Switzerland
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Smart hack
We’ve found Perplexity to be a game-changer for everyday questions and a great boost to traditional search engines (nope, they do not sponsor us, unfortunately). It’s especially handy when figuring out which journalists might cover your startup:
Note: You still need to double-check the names, but it's perfect for a quick media overview!
One good read
Guest article by Kim Scott, the bestseller author author of "Radical Candor” and former Google and Apple-Exec: ‘Founder Mode’ Explains the Rise of Trump in Silicon Valley