Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,

Forbes did it again: One of their 30under30 upshots featured on their cover was arrested by the FBI last week. Joanna Smith-Griffin, CEO of AI company AllHere, is accused of wire fraud and identity theft, facing up to 40 years in prison. Forbes' alumni seem to ride the extremes: they’ve raised a jaw-dropping $5.3bn, but also been accused of defrauding $18.5bn. Is this the high-stakes entrepreneurship playbook - go big, or go behind bars? Follow the Gradient and stay tuned.

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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party

Deutsche Bank backs Aleph Alpha

Deutsche Bank has invested into German AI star Aleph Alpha. The bank’s investment into the company hints at a strategic push into regulated industries like finance. While some early investors cashed out, Schwarz Group and Burda Principal Investments doubled down on their stakes.

A new unicorn for Europe

Belgian hotel software startup Lighthouse raised $370m in Series C funding, hitting a $2.4bn valuation. This signals hope for European startups outside the AI hype. And there is more: Just last week, ERP giant Odoo also raised €500m from Sequoia Capital. So don’t despair, there are other things than AI!

From boom to bust: Northvolt files for bankrupty

Former Wunderkind of the electric evolution Northvolt has filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 in the US. The company burned through $2.1bn in under a year, leaving just $30m in the bank. Europe takes a hit not only in its effort to nurture successful ventures, but in its move to grow its own champions of the electric revolution.

What do you meme?

Food for thought

Is the job title overrated?

Should you miss out on a job because the title is not senior enough? Is the perception of your role to the outside world all that matters when deciding on a new career chapter? Sequoia’s Zoe Jervier Hewitt shares interesting thoughts on how areas of learning, growth and network have compounding effects - and how these may be more relevant for long-term career success than jumps in titles.

Hype = relevance?

Venture hype cycles fuel new startup ideas - yet, is this where real success will emerge?

ARR no more?

While traditional SaaS models captured revenue by charging clients for access, the increased capabilities of AI allow delivering outcomes - a traditional value unit of the services industry. Will Software as a Service turn into Service as a Software?

The state of European tech documentary

The team at Atomico has gathered some of the most influential voices in the European startup ecosystem for a documentary to discuss the past, present and future of European tech. Worth to watch!

Mark your calendar

Germany

AI Investment Summit in Berlin, 28 November [Program]

Netherlands

Founders Running Club in Amsterdam, 30 November 10am-12pm [Sign-up]

Switzerland

Startup Speed Dating in Zurich, 28 November [Register here]
“Startup Funding: Everything you need to know about Convertible Loans” in Zurich, 27 November 4-6pm CEST [Register here]

UK

Women in Silicon Roundabout in London, 27-28 November [Program]

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Smart hack

A recent guest post from Lenny’s Newsletter outlines tangible tips on how to leverage AI to become a supercharged line manager. Think of the following to use AI when leading our team:

1. Level up your team’s writing skills

2. Turn your team into debate champions

3. Help your team master synthesis skills

4. Build a custom GPT that thinks like you on-demand 

5. Teach your team how to use AI as a thought partner

One good read

The VC firm staking billions on a few big bets

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

Marketing Intern [📍Zurich], InsurTech, grape [Apply, Hiring manager]
Software Engineer Intern [📍Dublin], FinTech, Stripe [Apply]
Brand Artist - Internship [📍Paris], Gaming, Sorare [Apply]
Developer Relations - Internship [📍Paris], AI, Mistral [Apply]

Customer Success

Senior Customer Success Manager - DACH [📍Remote], Market research platform, appinio [Apply]
Customer Success Manager [📍Germany], Hospitality, Numa [Apply]

HR

HR Manager [📍Munich], AI, VidLab7 [Apply]

Marketing & Comms

Head of Marketing [📍Amsterdam], Industry, Lleverage [Apply]
Event Manager [📍Zurich], Dating, noii [Apply, Hiring manager]
Social Media Manager [📍London, Remote], web3, vLayer Labs [Apply]

Sales

Director Global Channels (MSP) [📍Remote, Germany], Cybersecurity, Eye Security [Apply]
Head of Revenue Expansion [📍Remote], No Code Platform, Passion.io [Apply]

Strategy & Ops

Chief of Staff [📍Berlin], Gaming, Slay [Apply]
Director, Strategy and Business Operations [📍Remote], Robotics, Locus Robotics [Apply]
Entrepreneurship Coordinator [📍Zurich], AI, ETH AI Center [Apply, Hiring manager]

Product & Tech

Product Manager [📍Remote], Platform as a Service (Cloud infrastucture), Platform.sh [Apply]
Senior Product Manager [📍Remote], Smart Contracts, OpenZeppelin [Apply]
Product Lead [📍Uppsala, Sweden], Marketplace, MyCamper [Apply]
ML & Promp Engineer [📍Barcelona], TravelTech, AcaiTravel [Apply]

Final words — take what you need

Talk to you on Thursday for our weekly podcast episode. This time about a topic that we both found rather on the dry side, until we realised what a money machine it is! 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!