Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,

Rumor has it OpenAI is releasing an updated model this autumn, named “Strawberry”. Is it named after Sam Altman’s backyard berries or the latest in self-taught reasoning? Either way, it’s not slowing them down—word is, they’re preparing a new fundraising round with Thrive Capital and Apple, eyeing a whopping $100 billion valuation. This could set a new valuation record for a "startup." Follow the Gradient and stay tuned.

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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party

Uber’s big bet on driverless tech from the UK

Uber is doubling down on autonomous driving by making a strategic investment in UK-based startup Wayve, extending Wayve’s recent $1.05 billion Series C. Founded in 2017 in Cambridge, Wayve has raised over $1.3 billion from investors like SoftBank, NVIDIA, and Microsoft. Wayve’s self-learning AI is being tested on Jaguar I-Paces and Ford E-Transits in the UK. This move could further solidify Uber’s lead in the autonomous mobility race, especially as Waymo’s robotaxis are already available on the Uber platform in Phoenix. Uber is increasingly becoming the go-to partner for startups looking to commercialize their autonomous driving tech.

Austrian magic in the US

Magic AI, founded by two Austrians and based in San Francisco, just raised $320 million to create the world’s most advanced AI programmer. Backed by big names like former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Sequoia and Atlassian, Magic AI is making waves. Wouldn’t it be great to see more European founders creating this kind of magic at home?

Bluesky: silent winner after X’s fallout?

A Brazilian court’s decision to ban X seems to be benefiting its rivals, especially Bluesky. The microblogging platform reported “all-time highs for activity” with 500,000 new users in just two days. This impressive growth comes from a platform that only opened to the public in February and now boasts over 6 million users as of May 2024. Meanwhile, Elon Musk grapples with Brazilian authorities over X’s refusal to block certain accounts—going so far as to call the country’s chief justice 'Voldemort'. Social platforms are anything but boring these days.

What do you meme?

Food for thought

Metrics investors look for - per stage

Funding boost for ClimaTech?

ClimaTech startups often grapple with the need to secure significant funds to build production facilities for novel - or: first of a kind (FOAK) - technologies. Existing project financing techniques, such as Offtake agreements, may help here: these agreements secure commitments to buy future products under defined terms—even though these products may be pre-production. Such tangible proofs of future customer’s buying intent may proof helpful in securing early-stage investment funds.

Do we have a talent gap in Europe?

Two things are often cited as key for scaling a company: funding and talent. Europe’s funding gap to the US is well documented, the apparent talent gap is more subtle. You may know a couple of people in your circle who have scaled to €10m ARR—yet how many people do you know who have scaled to €100m ARR?

In the US you can hire a manager of a $1bn division from Big Tech to scale your company - who do you hire in Europe?

Mark your calendar

Germany

IFA NEXT (for startups) within IFA in Berlin, 6-10 September [Program]

Netherlands

Amsterdam Founders Table, 5 September at 6:30-9:45 pm [Register here]

Switzerland

Horizon Day 24 in Zurich, InsurTech, 5 September [Program]

UK

GreenTech Festival in London, 5 September [Program]
World Finance Forum in London, 5 September [Program]

Did we miss an important event? Let us know by replying to this email.

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Smart hack

We found Marc Andressen’s guide to productivity a useful hack to re-think your working habits—full read here.

One good read

The latest essay from Y Combinator’s Paul Graham:

Founder Mode

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

Venture Capital Intern [📍Remote, Berlin], Venture Capital, Global Founders Capital [Apply]
Founder Associate / Marketing Intern [📍Zurich], MedTech, Scanvio Medical [Apply, Hiring manager]

Customer Success

Project Manager Manager, Medical Science & Strategic Innovation [📍Hybrid, Berlin], Healthtec, Sanity Group [Apply]

HR & Ops

Regional Revenue Manager - Germany [📍Remote, Germany], Co-Living, LifeX [Apply]

Marketing

Community & Growth Lead (Maternity Cover) [📍Berlin], AI, Merantix [Apply, Hiring manager]
Head of Brand - Running [📍Zurich], Apparel, On [Apply, Hiring manager]

Product & Strategy

Chief of Staff [📍Remote, Berlin], Fintech, finmid [Apply]
Product Team Lead [📍Remote, EU/ London], B2C Productivity, GoodNotes [Apply]

Not a startup anymore, but a renowed Tech company:
Vice President, Product Management - Global Applications & Architecture [📍Remote, EU], Data & Information Analysis, Meltwater [Apply]

Sales

Account Director EMEA [📍Remote, Germany], Cybersecurity, Snyk [Apply]

Talk to you next week! In the meantime, we see you on LinkedIn, X, Insta and YouTube! And don’t forget to already follow us on Spotify or Apple podcast to be the first to listen to our first episode in two weeks.

🫶 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!