Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,

It’s July! Business-wise, this time of the year can feel like entire countries are on vacation - yes, looking at you Austria and Norway… 👀

On the flip side, this is the perfect time to catch up on the tasks you’ve been wanting to catch up on for a while. Cleaning up CRM data? Building a new project blueprint? You name it - let’s go!

PS: For the non-Swifties among you who wondered why we mentioned Taylor Swift in our last edition: She is quite a role model when it comes to being an entrepreneur. But read for yourself.

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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail pool party

Character.ai becomes the most popular consumer app in the world

Character.ai, a chatbot platform featuring AI bots mimicking famous figures like Einstein, Obama or Musk, is now the world’s top AI consumer app. It has over 250 million monthly visits and 20 million active users, and a crazy Reddit community. Most users are Gen Z, some spending over 2 hours a day on the platform. As AI companions grow in popularity, will we soon find ourselves chatting with BFF AI at the coffee shop?

Wefox no more?

In a recent edition, we covered Wefox's founders' attempt to oust CEO Mark Hartigan over plans to sell the company cheaply. 1:0 for the founders: Hartigan will be replaced by year's end, as decided at last week's Extraordinary General Assembly. However, restructuring efforts, including layoffs and withdrawing from countries like Germany, will continue.

Sam Altman has a day job and a side gig. Only one of them is making him rich

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, despite earning just $65,000 a year and having no shares in OpenAI, has amassed a personal investment empire worth $2.8 billion, investing in over 400 companies including big names like Stripe and Airbnb. His dual roles have sparked concerns about potential conflicts of interest, as many of his investments, like Helion and Reddit, do business with OpenAI. Altman has recused himself from specific deals, but the blurred lines between his personal and professional interests continue to prompt scrutiny.

A world of memes

Food for thought

The long haul of VC

The Forbes Midas List (think: Oscars for venture capitalists in tech) spotlights the best performing VCs. Partnering up with these can be a boost for a startup (Midas = the mythological King that turns anything he touches into gold), or a fast-track for your career. But what about the long-term performance of these funds? Carilu Dietrich and Hank Taylor analyzed data from 2011-2024, revealing not only the usual top VCs but also lesser-known names excelling. Take a look:

Old media vs. new media

Traditional publishers like the New York Times have sued OpenAI for allegedly using their articles to train AI. Now, music companies are joining in. AI startups Suno and Udio face lawsuits from major record labels over copyright infringement. What does this mean for AI startups aiming to disrupt the market? One thing is clear: until laws catch up with generative AI, big labels and traditional publishers will scrutinize every move.

It takes increasingly longer to get funding

Will AI make fighting climate change harder?

While the world focuses on reducing flights, the massive CO2 footprint of AI is often overlooked. Microsoft's greenhouse gas emissions have surged by a third since 2020, largely due to new AI data centers. In fact, data centres are top polluters among building types, consuming 10 to 50 times more energy than office buildings. Amid scrutiny, Bill Gates argues that AI's energy-saving benefits will outweigh its increased usage. Meanwhile, Intel has submitted a patent for “sustainable computing” - intended to make its data centres more green and clean. Give us more hope evidence, please!

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Mark your calendar

It’s July, the events-marathon slows down a bit. Enjoy - September will be soon enough!

Germany

HACK’N’TALK: LegalTech Focus, Munich, 03 July [Program]

Switzerland

From idea to impact - a VC perspective, Zurich, 02 July [Program]

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

Smart hack

Join the entrepreneurial journey

Are you ready to take your first steps into the startup ecosystem or seeking an exciting new opportunity? Here is a curated list of startup job openings across Europe for you to explore:

Internships

Working student [📍Zürich, Hybrid], EdTech, Taskbase [Apply]
Student - Strategy and Business Operations [📍Munich], B2B SaaS (HR), Personio [Apply]

Customer Success

VP of Customer Success [📍Germany, UK, Remote], B2B SaaS (Data Analytics), Exasol [Apply]
Customer Success Manager [📍Berlin, Remote], B2B SaaS (Operations), Saastrify [Apply]

HR & Finance

Junior Accountant [📍Lausanne], MedTech, ONWARD [Apply]
Finance Manager [📍Amsterdam], TravelTech, Polarsteps [Apply]

Marketing

Head of CRM & Lifecycle Marketing [📍Berlin, Hybrid], FinTech, Bling [Apply]
Product Marketing Manager [📍Remote], FinTech, GoFundMe, GoFundMe [Apply]
Social Media Manager to CEO & Founder [📍Solihull, UK], Apparel, GymShark [Apply]
Marketing Associate [📍Zurich or Remote (US / UK)], LegalTech, AI, DeepJudge [Apply]

Sales

Channel Account Manager [📍Berlin or Remote], B2B SaaS (Operations), Freshworks [Apply]
VP of Sales [📍DE, Remote], B2B SaaS (Automation), ABBYY [Apply]
Regional VP of Sales [📍DE, Remote], B2B SaaS (Dev Platfrom), Fastly [Apply]

Talk to you next week! In the meantime, we see you on LinkedIn, X and Insta!

🫶 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!