Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,

Figma shares tripled on their first day of trading, invoking 2021 Tech frenzy vibes and a closing valuation of $68bn. This is less than the announced $100bn spending spree of Meta into AI data centres next year, but more more than Tesla’s latest exec perks. The company handed out a new stock grant to CEO Elon Musk worth $30bn to "energise and focus” him. Try that energy-and-focus line next time you negotiate salaries with your boss - and send us the results. Follow the Gradient and stay tuned.

🫶🏼 Melanie & Christian

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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party

Berlin’s n8n eyes $1.5bn valuation in fresh funding talks

AI workflow start-up n8n is in talks to raise over $100m at a valuation topping $1.5bn, just four months after its last €300mn round. The Berlin-based company, backed by Sequoia and Highland Europe, reports $40mn in annual recurring revenue and 230’000 active users, with revenue growing fivefold last year.

German states open to procuring Palantir

German politicians are open to using Palantir in German security agencies but want European alternatives. Three states already use it, with Baden-Württemberg to follow; a nationwide rollout is under review. Some voices warn of legal risks, while others call for more digital sovereignty and less U.S. tech reliance.

Mistral chases $10bn valuation amid funding and takeover buzz

French AI start-up Mistral is in talks to raise $1bn at a $10bn valuation, as it races to compete with US giants. Revenues are on track to top $100mn, fueled by a handful of $100mn-plus multi-year contracts. Mistral is also rumored as a potential Apple acquisition target, as Big Tech scrambles for sovereign AI talent and models.

OpenAI lands $8.3bn as IPO path takes shape

OpenAI has raised $8.3bn from investors including Blackstone, TPG, and Dragoneer, pushing its valuation to $300bn. The ChatGPT maker now generates $12bn in annual recurring revenue and plans to launch GPT-5 this month. The oversubscribed round is part of a $40bn fundraise anchored by SoftBank, as OpenAI negotiates a restructuring with Microsoft to enable a future public listing.

What do you meme?

Food for thought

The business matters, not the sex of the founder

We’ve all heard the stories of female founders being judged differently than male founders. Let’s find solutions rather than lamenting on problems. We love the list of Christie Horvath of funds that fund women, see here. Got any funds to add?

Indexed ChatGPT conversations - growth hack or privacy breach?

ChatGPT and Claude let you share conversations through public links. Google indexes them and let’s you find them. You can now prompt to rank. Is this a new growth hack, or a lack of privacy many users are not aware of?

No people management. Is execution now everything?

With AI agents on the rise, startups are building leaner teams with individuals fully ramped by AI. The middle management layer managing individual contributors is disappearing, as Zoe Jervier Hewitt of Sequoia writes. Is execution now everything?

Are you trying to ace the test, or handing it out?

Board meetings are high pressure situations. Saanya Ojha of Bain Capital lays out two ways to open them: send a 94-slide deck the midnight before and walk through every single detail. Or, open the meeting with: “Here’s what’s on fire. Here’s what we’re doing. Here’s where I need you.” Which team are you on?

Listen to our podcast episode on How to manage successful startup boards with Nicole Herzog if you want to dive deeper

Events happening this week

We constantly update this quarter’s must-attend events for startups in Europe list.

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

From our partners

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From us

Revenue responsibility is tough, especially in leadership positions. Sales in SaaS companies is a daunting task, Meredith Chandler breaks down her 16 lessons in this valuable piece. Our key take-away’s:

• Earn trust with the team before pushing playbooks

• Hire consciously, not fast

• Obsess over discovery, identify what’s broken

• Buyers need ROI, not more product details

• Pricing confidence sets the tone, say the number like it’s normal

One good read

Inside the relentless race for AI capacity

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

VC analyst [📍Berlin], VC, b2venture [Apply, Hiring manager]
Working Student, Risk [📍Berlin], Spend Management, Moss [Apply]
Working Student - QA Tester [📍Munich], OTC Trading platform, enmacc [Apply]

Customer Success

Head of Strategic Accounts [📍Remote], Fintech, pawaPay [Apply]
Head of Fulfillment & Customer Success [📍Niederaula], Warehouse Logistics, Advastore [Apply]

Marketing & Comms

Influencer & Social Growth Strategist [📍Remote Germany], Fashion, AMELI Zurich [Apply, Hiring manager]
Founding marketeer [📍London], Biotech, Early [Apply, Hiring manager]

Sales

Sales Development Representative [📍Remote], Recruiting, GOHiring [Apply]
International Account Manager EMEA [📍Remote, Germany], Sustainability Software, AMCS [Apply]

Strategy & Ops

Operations Associate [📍London], telecom-as-a-service, Gigs [Apply]
Senior Manager - Product Strategy & Biz Ops [📍Dublin], Content, contenful [Apply]

Product & Tech

AI Engineer [📍Zurich], AI, UTHEREAL.AI [Apply, Hiring manager]
Product Manager [📍Remote], Spend Management, Rydoo [Apply]

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!