Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,

A solo founder bootstrapped his AI app to several millions in revenue within 6 months and then exited for $80m in cash. He may be able to reject work offers for the AI team at Meta. Mark Zuckerberg has personally been calling talent to poach them to work on his super intelligence team, with signing bonuses up to $100m. We thought about using AI to nail those phone interviews with him. Would he notice? Follow the Gradient and stay tuned.

🫶🏼 Melanie & Christian

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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party

Helsing rockets to €12bn valuation

Munich-based Helsing landed €600m in Series D funding led by Daniel Ek’s Prima Materia, doubling its valuation to €12bn. Once focused solely on AI software, the startup now builds autonomous strike drones and underwater surveillance systems. As Europe's defence frenzy grows, Helsing is scaling drone production and racing to integrate cutting-edge LLMs into warfare tech.

OpenAI-Microsoft alliance under strain as deal talks stall

Tensions are peaking between OpenAI and Microsoft, with the AI startup reportedly weighing antitrust claims against its biggest backer and Microsoft prepared to walk away from the talks. At stake: control over OpenAI’s future structure and Microsoft’s cut of revenues and IP access. The talks could threaten a SoftBank-led $30bn round if OpenAI can’t finalize its corporate transition by year’s end.

Revolut’s CEO eyes Musk-style mega payday

Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky could net billions if his firm hits a $150bn valuation, thanks to an ambitious, Musk-inspired pay deal tied to performance milestones. The $45bn fintech, which posted £1bn in profits last year and now serves 50mn customers, has seen crypto and card payment revenues surge. A UK banking licence and revamped staff bonuses hint at preparations for an IPO.

What do you meme?

Food for thought

Be full of yourself (in the best way)

In this video, Matthew McConaughey flips the insult: “Who else should I be full of?” To him, real confidence isn’t arrogance – it’s deep self-knowledge and ownership. Three journaling prompts to build that kind of self-trust: 1. What energized me most this week? 2. When did I feel resistance – and what boundary was I protecting. 3. If no one else's opinion mattered, what would I do tomorrow?

Are useful AI agents the pragmatic ones?

We all want those AI agents to do our work. Effectiveness lies in simplicity…

The true cost of growth?

Growth does not always equal growth. Some is earned organically, some is bought, and some is simply expensive. In this insightful post, Jacco van der Kooij breaks down growth behaviour into three buckets: Growth Earners (their CAC is going down), Growth Strugglers (their CAC rises up), Growth Buyers (their CAC is insane at e.g. $8 spent for $1 earned). Which are you?

Exercise is no luxury we have to earn

We all know this: “I will work out once I have my work done”. Yet to re-energize and to take breaks is one of the most important things to push through in the long run. Anthony Walsh reflects on work culture and personal wellbeing habits in this post. His take: Don’t mistake motion for progress.

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

Startups don’t lose new execs because they hired wrong – they lose them because they “hire and forget.” Dave Bailey, veteran CEO coach to hundreds of venture-backed founders, says early hands-off onboarding kills trust and momentum.

Instead, set clear expectations from Day One:

• Daily syncs (First 2–3 Months)
  5-minute check-ins keep things aligned as challenges emerge.

• Pull, don’t push
  They should actively mine your knowledge to get up to speed.

• Align to vision early
  Your job: hold the vision. Theirs: align to it and cascade.

• Build plans together
  Default to your context if visions clash.

• Go async with trust
  Use Loom updates over meetings to protect focus time.

• Monthly alignment check
  Assume misalignment exists. Find and fix it together.

→ Onboarding is how you build trust fast – not how you micromanage.

Plus: check out our conversation with Paddy Lambros on How to Hire Exceptional Teams

One good read

The truth about Mark Zuckerberg’s macho-man makeover

Join the entrepreneurial journey

Are you ready to take your first steps into the startup ecosystem or seeking an exciting new opportunity? Below is a curated list of startup job openings across Europe for you to explore.

Internships

Compensation & Benefits Internship [📍Ghent, Belgium], FinTech, Silverfin [Apply]
Marketing Working Student [📍Remote, Berlin], ESG Data, Atlas Metrics [Apply]
Research Internship (Fall 2025) [📍Europe], AI, Cohere [Apply]

Customer Success

Head of Customer Success [📍Remote], TRM, Web3 [Apply]
Enterprise Customer Success Manager - EMEA [📍Remote, Europe], No Code Platform, builder.io [Apply]

Marketing & Comms

Head of Community [📍London], Media, Flightstudio [Apply, Hiring manager]
Social Media Manager [📍Berlin], Beverage, nüchtern [Apply, Hiring manager]
Senior Creative Lead, Copy [📍Zurich] Apparel, On [Apply, Hiring manager]

Sales

Founding Account Executive [📍Stockholm], AI, Lovable [Apply, Hiring manager]
Sales Director DACH [📍Remote, Germany], Industry, OpenX [Apply]

Strategy & Ops

Team Lead - Ops Academy [📍Amsterdam], FinTech, Ayden [Apply]
People Ops Manager [📍Amsterdam], SaaS, tebi [Apply]

Product & Tech

Robotics Engineer (customer facing) [📍Zurich], Robotics, mimic [Apply, Hiring manager]
Product Manager [📍Copenhagen], Gaming, Tactile [Apply]

Final words — take what you need

Stay connected and spread the word! If you found this newsletter insightful, why not share it with your network? Thanks for reading, and we look forward to bringing you even more insights in the next edition!