Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,

Taylor Swift got engaged and her dress sold out within hours. Whoever owns Growth Marketing at Ralph Lauren deserves a pay raise. The world now awaits another lavish wedding. Maybe some of the guests will include individuals from Time’s latest AI Top 100 list. Or maybe they’re the ones specifically not welcomed. AI-generated photos will haunt the likes of Taylor Swift for years to come. Follow the Gradient and stay tuned.

🫶🏼 Melanie & Christian

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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party

N26 brings in ex-Bundesbanker to ease boardroom chaos

Former Bundesbank exec Andreas Dombret is set to chair N26’s supervisory board in a bid to end infighting between founders and investors. Current chair Marcus Mosen becomes co-CEO alongside co-founder Max Tayenthal, while Valentin Stalf steps down. The reshuffle follows regulatory pressure and investor demands after a botched 2021 raise promised 25% returns.

Revolut staff get $75bn payday opportunity

Revolut employees can now sell up to 20% of their shares in a secondary sale valuing the fintech at $75bn. It’s a major liquidity event for staff, signalling confidence in Revolut’s private valuation. The sale clears space for new investors as Revolut gears up for its next growth phase.

Lovable’s valuation soars to $4bn amid investor FOMO

Just weeks after raising $200m at a $1.8bn valuation, AI startup Lovable is fielding unsolicited offers valuing it at over $4bn. The no-code app builder says it's not raising again yet, but VCs are circling hard. Founder Anton Osika cites “many attempts” to invest, chalking it up to classic fear of missing out.

What do you meme?

Food for thought

How much spin-off equity for a Professor?

Academic advisors often take equity for university spin-off’s, yet how much is fair? Stef van Grieken argues the right question to ask is “What role is the advisor going to play?” Equity reflects future value creation, not past contribution. Value equity stakes accordingly…

Is rocking all interviews a bad sign?

Hiring processes have become equal to scientific work: assessment framework, committees, evaluation tests. Yet as Olivia Teich points out from her experience at Dropbox, hiring the candidates who nail every single stage often did not correspond to superior performance on the job: Top notch candidates have edges, their own opinions, optimize for problem solving as opposed to nailing the interviews. Someone getting superior results in every step of the process might not be the signal you are looking for!

Entrepreneurial learnings which worked?

Richard Harpin built HomeServe and exited it for more than $4bn. His list of 20 lessons he wished to have known in his 20s reads as a fresh reminder on the basics of business building often forgotten.

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:

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From us

Investor updates can be a pain, many founders question their value-add. Daniel Dippold broke down the key characteristics great investor updates have to make an impact on the Board:

• They are highly precise

• They are comparable from update to update

• They communicate needs

• They use lingo investors understand

• They are being sent regularly

For more guidance on how to communicate with your Board, check our our conversation with Nicole Herzog on How to build and manage a successful Board

One good read

Climbing the wrong hill

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

Founders Associate [📍Zurich], LegalTech, CASUS [Apply, Hiring manager]
Strategy & Operations Intern [📍Barcelona, Lisbon, London or Madrid], FinTech, Revolut [Apply]
Working Student - CRM [📍Hybrid, Berlin], MedTech, AMBOSS [Apply]
Entrepreneur in Residence [📍Remote, Germany], Cargo Industry, cargo.one [Apply]

Customer Success

Customer Success Manager - Supply Chain [📍Remote, Germany], Spaced-based observation, LiveEO [Apply]

HR & Finance

Technical Recruiter [📍London], HealthTech, Neko Health [Apply]*

*Check out our podcast episode with their new People Lead, Noah Perry-Reifer (who at the time was the People Lead of ON)

Marketing & Comms

Performance Marketing Manager [📍Germany], Fashion, ALEMI (former AMELI) [Apply]*
VP Growth [📍Zurich], Real Estate, properti [Apply]
VIP Speakers and Strategic Relationships Lead [📍London], VC, Founders Forum Group [Apply]
Co-founder with marketing expertise [📍Zurich], Female Health, Forme [Apply]

*check out our podcast episode with their founder, Christina Stahl

Sales

Head of Sales [📍Zurich], HealthTech, rflect [Apply]
Sales Manager, SMB & BDR - EMEA [📍Remote, Europe], Recruiting, Ashby [Apply]
Head of Sales DACH [📍Remote, Germany], Cybersecurity, Eye Security [Apply]

Product & Tech

Senior Product Manager - Investors [📍Berlin], Fintech, bunch [Apply]
Senior Product Manager FSI Solutions [📍Remote, Europe], Data platform, Exasol [Apply]
Embedded Systems Engineer [Embodied AI] [Zurich], Robotics, mimic [Apply, Hiring manager]

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!