We celebrate One Year of Follow the Gradient!
Plus: In 100 years, what's left of your hustling?
· 661 words
Melanie Gabriel & Christian Woese
July 08, 2025 • Read time: 3 minutes
Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,
We just turned one! One year ago, we’ve been crazy enough to go out and share Follow the Gradient with the world. What we thought would be a three-hours-a-week chill project turned into a full-blown side hustle containing two newsletters, one podcast and countless social media posts a week. All this wouldn’t have been able without one key ingredient: an amazing audience, YOU! Thank you so much for believing in us! This week, it is time to give back: each day, we will post the most popular pieces of our content base from the last 12 months. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok to get the best-of’s of one year of FTG. Off to an amazing year two!
PS: Has this e-mail been forwarded to you? Sign up here.
Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party
Sweden’s Lovable nears $2bn valuation amid AI coding frenzy
AI coding start-up Lovable is set to raise over $150m at a $1.8bn valuation - just months after its last round - thanks to surging investor interest led by Accel. Founded in 2023, the company now boasts $75m ARR and 30,000+ paying customers. Its no-code platform taps OpenAI and others to build apps from simple prompts, making it Europe’s fastest-growing tech bet.
VCs try PE-style roll-ups, with an AI twist
Top firms like Thrive Capital and General Catalyst are shifting tactics, funding AI-powered roll-ups in fragmented sectors like wealth management and property rentals. Savvy Wealth just raised $72m to buy up advisory firms, while Dwelly is consolidating UK lettings. It’s a VC play for liquidity amid a stalled IPO market - less debt than PE, but big bets on tech-led efficiency gains.
What do you meme?
Food for thought
Services as the new growth channel?
Forward-deployed engineers have been the talk of town and with it, services-led growth of AI products. This might seem like a revolution - as Andreas Goeldi explains in this comprehensive post, it is anything but. Any new tech wave brought the need for tech firms to carve out consulting arms. This time is no different.
In 100 years, what’s left?
Startups are a grind. But that video making the rounds is a gut punch: in 100 years, strangers will live in your house and forget your name. The late nights, the stress — none of it lasts. So call your parents, write that note, cook that meal. Because sanity isn’t just making it through the race; it’s remembering what’s truly worth running for.
What moments make your life richer?
When your ‘fundraising expert’ ghosts you
More founders are losing money to fake fundraising advisors who promise investor connections and deliver nothing. UK startups are pushing for tighter rules — but scams like this happen everywhere. Have you ever paid someone who vanished when it mattered?
Events happening this week
We constantly update this quarter’s must-attend events for startups in Europe list.
Do you like what we do at Follow the Gradient? Help us grow this community and share a like and add a comment to our LinkedIn post that just went live:
Smart hack
The holiday season is the ultimate stress test for your team. A sloppy handover exposes every missing doc and hidden silo and guarantees your phone rings on the beach. Loris nails how to avoid it:
🌴 Start 2+ weeks early, use one clear handover doc
🌴 Do a walkthrough
🌴 Update accesses
🌴 Notify clients
🌴 Set crisp OOO replies
🌴 Block your first day back meeting-free (include it in your OOO).
🌴 Add “what if” notes and quick Looms for tricky tasks.
🌴🌴 The ROI of a stress-free holiday? Huge.