Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,

If the word of the year had been picked in January, DeepSeek would have made the cut. While our timeline was flooded with AI experts and wannabes (thanks to OpenAI’s latest “Deep Research”, we are all experts now), we couldn’t help but notice China’s wink: “See, Europe? This is your moment — you don’t need to be first, and you don’t need the deepest pockets either to shack up the startup world.”

So Follow the Gradient and stay tuned!

🫶🏼 Melanie & Christian

PS: Has this e-mail been forwarded to you? Sign up here.

Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party

E-commerce to bear liability

The EU plans to hold e-commerce platforms like Shein and Amazon accountable for illegal or unsafe products by requiring them to provide customs data before goods enter the EU. The proposed reforms would ripple through the entire e-commerce sector, shifting responsibility from consumers to platforms. The measures aim to reduce counterfeits and ease pressure on authorities handling a surge in imports, mostly from China.

Meta pours investment into Virtual Reality

Meta’s investment in VR and AR will surpass $100bn in 2025, with a focus on smart glasses as a potential next computing platform. Despite $17.7bn in losses last year, Reality Labs' revenue grew, and Zuckerberg remains committed to long-term innovation in AI-powered wearables. AI is not the only big bet on the future, after all.

What do you meme?

Food for thought

Outcome = execution, strategy and luck?

As Dan Hockenmaier puts it, outcome is a function of execution, strategy and luck. He argues, luck is becoming more important as strategy and execution is getting better. Is this true?

YC Request for startups

Y Combinators recent request for startups is out and brings a glimpse into the future. Not surprisingly, AI dominates the game - yet its applications have become more specific. The list is always worth a read.

It’s a venture, but does it make money?

Hustling can be worth it to pursue your dream, but do not forget to benchmark your business against a money mindset. As Tony E. Kula points out, financially Entrepreneurship needs to be a real chance to make more money than in regular jobs. Otherwise, you may want to call it your hobby…

Events this week

Latvia

TechChill in Riga, 5-7 February [Program]

Switzerland

SICTIC Investor Day at ETH AI Center Zurich, 6 February [Tickets]

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

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

Blossom Capital’s recently published GTM template showcases state-of-the art revenue reporting for anyone responsible for growth at their company.

One good read

DeepSeek Chief’s Journey From Math Geek to Global Disrupter

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

Working student [📍Berlin], AI, TextCortex [Apply]
DevOps Intern [📍City or Remote], SpaceTech, LiveEO [Apply]
Analyst [📍Munich], VC, 42CAP [Apply]
Social Content Creator - Internship [📍Stockholm], Robotics, Furhat Robotics [Apply]
R&D Technician Intern [📍Schlieren, Zurich], Cleantech, Oxyle [Apply]

Customer Success

Product Onboarding Specialist [📍Paris], FinTech, Payflows [Apply]
Customer Success Manager [📍Zurich], PropTech, spacewise [Apply]

HR & Finance

Head of People Operations & Rewards[📍City or Remote], TravelTech, WeTravel [Apply]
Junior Recruiter - Non-Tech [📍Madrid], PropTech, Huspy [Apply]

Marketing & Comms

Senior Field Marketing Manager | South EMEA [📍London, Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, Munich, or Amsterdam], AI, DeepL [Apply]
Head of Content Design[📍London], FinTech, Cleo [Apply]
Growth Marketer [📍Amsterdam, Remote ok], FinTech, [in stealth] [Apply]
PR Manager [📍 Manchester] Fashion, THG [Apply]

Sales

Partnerships and Business Development Lead – Germany & Austria [📍Munich], Retail, Bloom & Wild [Apply]
Account Manager Enterprise [📍Berlin], FinTech, Ayden [Apply]
Account Executive [📍London or Berlin], SaaS, Taktive [Apply]
Account Executive, Enterprise, DACH [📍Munich], SaaS, Notion [Apply]

Strategy & Ops

Team Lead Operations Wealth & Process Performance [📍Berlin], FinTech, Scalable Capital [Apply]

Product & Tech

Product Design Lead [📍Germany], ESG, Atlas Metrics [Apply]
Head of AI [📍Berlin], FinTech, TaxFix [Apply]
Database Engineer [📍Zurich], Manufacturing AI, EthonAI [Apply]

Final words — take what you need