Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,

With Q4 in full swing, it’s time to think about your 2025 targets. If you're ready for a little inspiration (or humility), take a look at cybersecurity upshot Wiz who is aiming for $1bn in ARR for 2025— just 6 years post launch. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s crew of humanoid robots might need a dose of humility, too. Turns out his “robots” were not so robotic after all, but “human-assisted” with a motion-capturing actor steering the robotic body remotely. But hey, what tech company is not overselling, right? Follow the Gradient and stay tuned.

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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party

Born in Europe, raised in the US?

London based Gen-AI venture 11x announced the full relocation of its operations to the US - taking employees, operations and their tax payments with them. Building AI-based virtual employees for Sales teams, the startup was seen as one of the few gems on Europe’s Gen-AI horizon. After skyrocketing growth and a $24m funding round last month, the firm names three reasons for its move: capital, talent and “America’s willingness to build the future”. What a punch in the face for the Old World.

Norway raises social media age to shield kids from algorithms

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre aims to raise the social media age limit to 15 to protect minors from harmful content and addictive algorithms. Updates to the Personal Data Act would require age verification, giving parents added support in setting online boundaries. Despite enforcement challenges, Norway joins countries like Australia and France in putting children’s digital safety first, as new studies show a connect between social media use and rising mental health problems of adolescents.

What do you meme?

Food for thought

Founder wellbeing is more than a matter of personal health

A staggering 70% of founders acknowledge burnout as a major issue, finds a new study by Balderton. Yet, 78% still feel pressured to prioritize work over personal health. For startups, this isn't just a personal issue—it's a business risk. Founders who burn out underperform, impacting growth and innovation. The industry needs to normalize and destigmatize founders asking for help and to take wellbeing seriously—not just for the sake of health, but for long-term business success.

Excel - a strong competitor to go up against?

Excel can drive you mad, yet it has been a widely successful product and can be a hell of a competitor for B2B startups to go up against. The Economist makes a case on why AI assistants will make Excel even stronger.

When is the best time to join a startup?

The best time to join a startup isn’t necessarily after a big funding round—much of the upside will then be priced into your equity. Instead, aim for stages where key risks are being resolved. Startups navigate five critical risks: technology (can the product work?), market (do people want it?), scaling (can it reach a large audience?), business model (is it profitable?), and defensibility (can it maintain its market position?). Ideal entry points are right after product-market fit or during the scaling phase when profitability is emerging.

Mark your calendar

Germany

Impact Festival in Frankfurt, B2B event for sustainability innovation, 30-31 October [Agenda]
Brunch Club für Unternehmerinnen und Selbständige in Düsseldorf, 29 October [Ticket]
🏆 Gründerszene Impact Award [Deadline October 31]

Netherlands

Amsterdam Tech Job Fair Fall in Amsterdam, 31 October [Ticket]

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Smart hack

Go-to-market (GTM) is tough! Being more art than science, it is the discipline that can make or break any business, simply because its at the core of how to capture revenue. The GTM templates of Maja Voje are one of a kind - go check them out and find one of her most viral template here.

One good read

On this important topic, we have two reads today:

Can A.I. be blamed for a teen’s suicide?
The teen mental health crisis: a reckoning for big tech

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

Robotics Intern / Working Student [📍Zurich], Robotics, Mimic [Apply]
Venture Capital Internship [📍Berlin], VC, b2ventures [Apply, Hiring manager]

Tip to get your VC job from the one guy who knows them all.

Customer Success

Team Lead Customer Success, EMEA [📍Remote, Germany], Cybersecurity, Semperis [Apply]
Customer Success Manager [📍Remote, UK], Skills Intelligence Platform, Workera [Apply]
Customer Success Manager [📍Remote, Germany], Robotics, Locus Robotics [Apply]

HR & Ops

People & Culture Manager - part-time[📍Berlin, Hybrid-Remote], Storytelling, femtasy [Apply, Hiring manager]
Head of Talents [📍Zurich], VC, Founderful [Apply, Hiring manager]

Marketing & Comms

Head of UK Comms [📍London], Industry, Vinted [Apply, Hiring manager]
Growth Marketing Manager [📍Basel], Vehicle rental subcriptions, MyCamper [Apply]

Product & Strategy

Product Designer, International Public Sector [📍Remote, Germany], Enterprise LLMs, Scale AI [Apply]
Senior Product Manager [📍Remote, Germany], AI Agents, DeepOpinion [Apply]

Our tip: DeepOpinion just closed a Series A and has a lot of open positions across all departments!

Sales

Senior Account Manager [📍Remote, Germany], Maritime & Logistics Intelligence, kpler [Apply]
Business Development Manager [📍Munich], Virtual Reality, Hologate [Apply]

Talk to you next week! In the meantime, we see you on LinkedIn, X, Insta and YouTube!

🫶 Melanie & Christian

Each week, a lot of work goes into the Follow the Gradient project to help you navigate this crazy jungle called entrepreneurship. Help us grow this community and we’ll make sure that you or your project gets a shoutout in the weekly newsletter!