Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,
While AI accounts for most of the current investment hype, it also supplies us with a reliable stream of drama. The OpenAI vs. Elon Musk soap opera continues with new accusations of dishonesty, and two Co-Founders of Ex-OpenAI CTO Miray Murati’s venture are breaking to leave back to their former employer. Anthropic is now the only AI lab left with all founders still standing. Sometimes it’s good to be boring. Follow the Gradient and stay tuned.
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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party
Aleph Alpha’s co‑founder exits amid leadership shake‑up
Aleph Alpha co‑founder Jonas Andrulis has abruptly resigned all leadership roles, telling shareholders he’s stepping down as co‑CEO and board member and may only help “if circumstances allow.” The exit contradicts earlier plans to stay on as chairman, sparking questions about alignment with new management. The firm is silent on the change and confirms cuts of around 15% of staff.
Parloa hits $3bn valuation with lightning-fast Series D
AI startup Parloa raised $350m just seven months after its $1bn Series C, tripling its valuation to $3bn. General Catalyst led the round, with backing from Altimeter, EQT, and Durable Capital. The blitz fundraising underscores surging demand for "agentic" customer experiences. Parloa is now one of Europe’s fastest-growing AI players.
Cloudflare buys UK’s Human Native to power AI data marketplace
Cloudflare has acquired Human Native, a UK startup connecting creators and AI developers, to build out a transparent data economy for AI. The deal lets Cloudflare offer tools to convert content into AI-ready, monetizable assets - pushing toward a new model where publishers can price, optimize, or block AI access. It’s a strategic bet on structuring the internet’s next economic layer.
What do you meme?
Food for thought
Growth syndrome, not imposter syndrome?
We all now it: the feeling to be in a situation where we feel too small, too inexperienced - intimidated by our own feeling of not being “enough”. We loved Steven Bartlett’s reframing of the imposter syndrome as growth, recounting a situation when he was at a BBC shark tank show at the age of 27 for the first time:
“You belong in every room you're brave enough to enter and the room that intimidates you most is the one that needs your perspective the most!”
Distractions, not investments
Real products instead of PhD thesis?
PhD engineering students at a major defense university in China can now graduate with a built product or real-world design instead of writing a thesis. A blueprint for their western peers to get more real-world impact out of academia?
Focus on contradictions, not pain
Pain points improve the game. Contradictions change it. Seed investor Mike Maples recounts his lessons on passing on an AirBnB investment opportunity: Airbnb didn’t solve “expensive hotels.” It challenged the belief that strangers can’t be trusted. What is your venture challenging?
Smart hack
From our Partners
AI in CX that grows loyalty and profitability
Efficiency in CX has often come at the cost of experience. Gladly AI breaks that trade-off. With $510M in verified savings and measurable loyalty gains, explore our Media Kit to see the awards, research, and data behind Gladly’s customer-centric approach.
From us
The grand question: how do you outperform at work? It is all about mindset and attitude. Lemlist founder Guillaume Moubeche named these five traits to stand out at work:
Meet your deadlines: Reliability will make you stand out.
Be positive: Keeping a high energy level in the team is what will allow going through tough times.
Ask for help when you need it: Speed is one of the key success drivers of a startup, don’t get stuck.
Be solution driven: If you bring up a problem, always come up with a potential solution.
Be transparent and don’t hide stuff: If you made a mistake, own it. Your CEO has made more of them so it’s OK he’ll understand.
One good read
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.
💡💡 Show your future employer that you go the extra mile and let them know directly why you will be the perfect fit! We have added a link to the Hiring Manager’s LinkedIn where we think this helps. Do things differently - message them! 💡💡
Internships
Werkstudent Customer Success Management [📍Germany], Inventory Management, Sparetech [Apply]
Working Student Finance [📍Constance], Data Analytics, KNIME [Apply]
Working Student – Revenue & Sales Operations [📍Berlin], Carbon Intelligence Platform, Climatiq [Apply]
Customer Success
Head of Customer Success [📍Remote, Europe], Sales Platform, Amplemarket [Apply]
Customer Success Manager [📍Remote], Blockchain Data Analytics, Dune [Apply]
Strategic Customer Success Manager [📍Remote, Europe], Design Engagement System, CoLab [Apply]
Marketing & Comms
Venture Capital and Deals Reporter[📍London], Media, Sifted [Apply, Hiring manager]
FinTech Reporter [📍London], Media, Sifted [Apply, Hiring manager]
Sales
(Senior) Key Account Manager [📍Hamburg], Fleet management, Wunder Mobility [Apply]
Business Development Manager DACH [📍Berlin], Electricity management, Powernaut [Apply]
Strategic Partner Director [📍Cologne], Signature verification, Certification [Apply]
Regional Sales Leader - Switzerland [📍Zurich], AI Translation, DeepL [Apply]
Product & Tech
Senior Product Designer [📍Munich], Supply Chain SaaS, Tacto [Apply]
Senior Product Design [📍Paris], AI Agent Orchestration, Dust [Apply]
Senior Director of Product [📍Berlin], FemTech, Progyny [Apply, Hiring manager]
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!
Follow the Gradient is a weekly newsletter and podcast by the serial founders Melanie Gabriel & Christian Woese about how to build a business from Europe while staying sane.
