Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,

Happy new year! While we hope all of you have found some time to wind down and relax during the year-end break, we also hope you feel as energised as us to start into 2025. It is the Chinese year of the Snake, standing for wisdom and intelligence - two traits definitely useful for business (and life). If the year is going to be as spectacular as Shanghai’s New Year drone show, we are in for a bang. Follow the Gradient and stay tuned.

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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party

Lilium hop, Volocopter flop?

Munich-based urban air mobility firm Lilium found a buyer for its remaining assets, turning around on its declared bankruptcy. Less than a week after most of its staff was officially led go, a EU and US investor conglomerate - Uplift Mobility - agreed to buy the firm’s operational assets. Shortly after, would-be competitor Volocopter filed for bankruptcy.

Elon Musk mingles in European politics

Elon Musk recommended German voters to select the right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the country’s upcoming federal election. After a controversial guest article in newspaper Die Welt, his attention turned to the UK calling for Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage to be replaced. Since the election of Donald Trump, the billionaire has dramatically ramped up his involvement into politics. While it’s one thing for a tech mogul to exercise free speech and share his opinions, what ripple effects might arise for Europe’s startup ecosystem if conservative, right-wing policymakers begin shaping the very regulations that define its future?

Number of US VCs drops 25%

The number of US venture capital firms has dropped 25% since 2022. The capital being invested by Limited Partners (investors into VCs) is at a seven-year low. The metrics are closely connected to the industry’s challenges to return capital to investors, as activity in IPOs and mergers have taken a hit.

What do you meme?

Food for thought

A social network of AIs?

Meta’s move to push fully AI-generated users on its platform received a prompt backlash. So much indeed, they’ve deleted most accounts again - yet the vision will stick. Will we see social networks of AI agents posting about each other one day?

Bureaucracy as a shield against the outside world?

American Entrepreneurs have long been seen to have more vision and ambition than their European counterparts. Is it time to spread our wings?

Has the era of solo founders begun?

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

If you’re building an AI-native startup, VC firm Headline’s Pitch deck template is for you. For all others, it is a great inspiration on how to craft a story for your fundraising (see here for the full template).

One good read

The ghosts in the machine

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

Operations & Strategy Intern [📍Berlin], Food, Milano Vice [Apply]
Compensation & Benefits Internship [📍Ghent, Belgium], FinTech, Silverfin [Apply]
Digital Marketing Intern [📍Paris], ClimateTech, Kayrros [Apply]

Customer Success

Customer Success Lead [📍Remote], Crypto, Dune [Apply]
Customer Onboarding Manager [📍Remote, Germany], Cybersecurity, XM Cyber [Apply]
Customer Success Manager [📍Remote, Germany], Pricing and CPQ SaaS, Pricefx [Apply]

HR & Finance

Head of People Operations / People Operations Manager [📍Amsterdam], Travel Operations, WeTravel [Apply]
Finance Transformation Lead [📍Berlin], Tax and Finance, Taxfix [Apply]

Marketing & Comms

Senior Growth Marketing Manager – Affiliate, Influencer Marketing & Partnerships [📍Hamburg], FinTech, Tomorrow [Apply, Hiring manager]
Head of Marketing [📍Remote, Europe], Mobile Ads, SplitMetrics [Apply]

Sales

Strategic Account Executive DACH [📍Remote], API Development, Postman [Apply]
VP Sales [📍Remote, Germany], Transportation SaaS, Optibus [Apply]

Strategy & Ops

Head of Strategy & Programs - Global Operations [📍Amsterdam], FinTech, Ayden [Apply]
Operations Specialist [📍Finland - Remote], AI, Nebius [Apply]

Product & Tech

Senior Product Manager [📍Munich], Supply Chain SaaS, Tacto [Apply]
Senior Product Manager (Integrations) [📍UK], Legal Tech, Juro [Apply]
Senior Product Owner [📍Remote, Europe], CMS, Storyblok [Apply]
Full Stack Designer [📍Zurich], Health Tech, Alpine White [Apply]

Final words — take what you need

Talk to you on Thursday for the first episode of Season 2 - it’s pure gold what we’re going to share. Stay tuned! In the meantime, let’s continue the discussion 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!