Podcast•Nov 18, 2025•49 min
VC10X - Building OLX, 350+ Exits, Top Marketplace Investor - Fabrice Grinda, Founding Partner, FJ Labs
In this episode, Fabrice Grinda, founding partner of FJ Labs and creator of OLX, recounts his leap from McKinsey to building a global classifieds empire, detailing the aggressive "spaghetti on the wall" rollout that took OLX to 100+ countries and $200 million in revenue despite near‑bankruptcy. He then shares the framework he uses to spot winning marketplace opportunities, drawing on pattern‑recognition that led to early bets on Alibaba, Airbnb and Flexport, and explains why he views AI as a hype bubble compared to the enduring upside of B2B and cross‑border marketplaces. Grinda also offers practical advice on solving the chicken‑and‑egg problem, pricing power, and the traits that separate successful founders from those who fail.
By VC10X
Social•Nov 18, 2025
2025 IPO Pricing: Unpredictable, No Clear Pattern
Why the Hell Is It So Hard to Price an IPO in 2025? In 2025, day one IPO performance feels like a total crapshoot. Figma went parabolic (but now sits at the failed Adobe acquisition price), CoreWeave was flat out...
By CJ Gustafson
Podcast•Nov 17, 2025•0 min
The First $100,000,000 ARR at Datadog: How Founder CEO Olivier Pomel Built a Customer-Centric Observability Giant
In this episode, Datadog founder‑CEO Olivier Pomel recounts how the company reached its first $100 million ARR by obsessively prioritizing genuine customer insight over sales or engineering shortcuts. He explains why closed alphas and annual contracts stifle learning, why enterprise SaaS...
By Jason Lemkin
Podcast•Nov 18, 2025•29 min
AI: The New Frontier for Mental Health Support?
In this episode, host Bob Safian discusses the contentious link between AI and mental health with Ellie Pavlick, director of Brown University's new AI‑mental health institute, and venture capitalist Soraya Darabi, an early backer of mental‑health AI startups. They examine...
By Masters of Scale
Podcast•Nov 18, 2025•39 min
E652 | Lea Strumberger, KfW Capital: How Europe’s Largest Public LP Thinks About Opportunity Funds
Welcome back to another episode of the EUVC Podcast, where we bring together Europe’s venture family to share the stories, insights, and lessons that drive our ecosystem forward. Today we dive into one of the most under-discussed — yet increasingly important...
By The European VC (EUVC)
Social•Nov 18, 2025
Rapid Growth, Not Just Features, Defines an AI Native
How to know if you are an “AI Native” start-up: 🚀 You are growing much, much faster than last year Otherwise, you just have AI Features
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 18, 2025
Negative Sentiment Threatens AI More Than Any Bubble
How negative sentiment could be a more pressing concern for AI than any bubble… In this TWiST highlight, I consider the recent backlash against AI apps and related technologies. Pushback and cynical takes around AI are coming from a number...
By Jason Calacanis
News•Nov 18, 2025
Hummink Raises €15M in Funding
Paris‑based Hummink, the spin‑out that commercialises High‑Precision Capillary Printing (HPCaP) technology, closed a €15 million funding round co‑led by KBC Focus Fund, Cap Horn and Bpifrance, with participation from Elaia Partners, Sensinnovat and Beeyond. The capital will fund the rollout of...
By FinSMEs
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Production AI Teams Favor Open‑Source Models and Database‑Backed Agents
70% of production AI teams use open source models. 72.5% connect agents to databases, not chat interfaces. This is what 375 technical builders actually ship - & it looks nothing like Twitter AI. 70% of teams use open source models...
By Tomasz Tunguz
Social•Nov 18, 2025
Investors Back Cloudflare Rivals to Prevent Single
resilience investors won’t be mincing their words either when they start funding a bunch of cloudflare competitors can’t have the internet crash bc of this single point of failure ey
By Nathan Benaich
Podcast•Nov 17, 2025•1h 10m
Emmett Shear on Building AI That Actually Cares: Beyond Control and Steering
In this episode, Emmett Shear—founder of Twitch and former OpenAI interim CEO— challenges the prevailing "control and steering" approach to AI alignment, arguing it’s fundamentally flawed and proposing an "organic alignment" model where AI genuinely cares about humans. He explains...
By a16z Podcast
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Acquisitions Close Quickly, but Relationships Take Years
If you want to potentially get acquired — start now. It often really, quietly takes years. What do I mean? Well for sure, acquisitions themselves technically often happen very quickly. The acquiring CEO reaches out, they meet up...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 18, 2025
Bezos Co‑Leads Secret ‘Physical AI’ Startup Project Prometheus
What is Project Prometheus and why is Jeff Bezos going to (co-)run it? On TWiST, Alex Wilhelm and I do a little digging on $AMZN founder Jeff Bezos’ latest project, the secretive AI startup Project Prometheus. We know they’re doing...
By Jason Calacanis
Podcast•Nov 17, 2025•1h 11m
Synthetic Data and the Future of AI | Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez
In this episode, Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez discusses how synthetic data has become essential for training AI models, enabling enterprises like Salesforce and Dell to scale intelligence securely across cloud environments. He explains Cohere's approach to building flexible, deployable AI...
By Grit (Kleiner Perkins)
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Execs Must Practice Their Own Roles to Succeed.
Every time I see a CRO that doesn't sell themselves, they fail. Every time I see a CTO that doesn't code themselves, they fail. Every time I see a CMO that doesn't market themselves, they fail. Every time I see a...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Investors Chase Metrics; Strategics Chase Product Fit
Is the process the same for M&A vs. a capital raise? While the process is largely the same, there are some differences. The biggest difference: investors tend to be hyper focused on metrics, while strategics tend to be more focused...
By Michael Lyon
News•Nov 17, 2025
Backflip Raises $10M in Equity Funding
Backflip, a Charlotte, North Carolina‑based real‑estate fintech platform founded in 2020, announced a $10 million equity raise. The round was led by FirstMark Capital alongside LiveOak Venture Partners and Vertical Venture Partners. The capital will be deployed to broaden the company’s...
By FinSMEs
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Get Instant Funding Verdict by Uploading Deck
Wondering if you can get funded ... or not? Wonder no more Upload your deck to SaaStr AI VC and we'll tell you -> https://t.co/S5UFYzoN7a https://t.co/VLRaBqjNa3
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Join Founder University Japan: Research Top Startups
Wanna come work with me? LAUNCH is bringing Founder University to Japan, and we’re looking for a sharp, curious researcher to help us discover the most promising startups in the region! It’s a huge opportunity to learn, grow, and get...
By Jason Calacanis
Podcast•Nov 17, 2025•1h 2m
20VC: Andrew NG on The Biggest Bottlenecks in AI | How LLMs Can Be Used as a Geopolitical Weapon |...
In this episode, Andrew Ng identifies the biggest bottlenecks slowing AI progress—data quality, compute costs, and talent scarcity—while arguing that large language models can become geopolitical tools for influence and misinformation. He debates whether traditional profit margins still matter and...
By The Twenty Minute VC (20VC)
Social•Nov 17, 2025
AI Teammates Automate Insurance Paperwork, Freeing Agents for Clients
Acolite builds AI teammates for insurance agencies so teams can spend more time with clients. Forward an email or delegate from your AMS, and Acolite issues COIs, pre-fills ACORDs, and cleans SOVs — fast, accurate, secure, with humans in the loop. https://t.co/MUONLogKx6 Congrats...
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 17, 2025
AI Coding's VC Subsidy Mirrors Early Food Delivery Boom
Is AI Coding Like Food Delivery: VC Subsidised and Unsustainable: " I remember the early days of food delivery, it was VC subsidized. We're seeing that right now with AI coding. This can't go on forever... there will be some very valuable businesses...
By Harry Stebbings
Blog•Nov 16, 2025
20VC Newsletter - 16th November 2025
The episode features three separate interviews: Everett Randle of Benchmark explains why mega‑funds prioritize capital velocity, proposes new AI‑company valuation metrics, and shares lessons from Mary Meeker; Rory O’Driscoll and Jason Lemkin discuss a looming Palantir valuation correction, the accelerating...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Microsoft Pivots to Agent‑centric Infrastructure Business
"Our business, which today is an end-user tools business, will become essentially an infrastructure business in support of agents doing work." — Satya Nadella Microsoft talking about their view where the value accrues : agent infrastructure https://t.co/1TaxJpOeCB
By Tomasz Tunguz
Social•Nov 17, 2025
OpenAI Lacks Platform Power Without Network Effects
Posit: OpenAI’s fundamental problem is that it cannot become a platform company as long as the models it wants to use as a platform have no network effects and remain pure commodities. People had to use Windows, but there is...
By Benedict Evans
Blog•Nov 14, 2025
Y-Combinator Pitch Deck Framework: Access 50+ Decks That Raised Over $450M.
In this episode, Sahil S breaks down Y Combinator’s proven pitch‑deck framework for seed‑stage startups, outlining a clear slide structure—from title and problem to traction, market size, and the ask—while emphasizing narrative simplicity and investor memorability. He highlights why a...
By Sahil S
Social•Nov 16, 2025
Profitable B2B Marketing SaaS with Strong Moat
This is an incredible business. Live on @acquiredotcom: Top-ranked B2B marketing education SaaS serving global teams and pros. > $3.25M ARR > $1.65M TTM profit > globally recognized SaaS + education + brand trust = serious moat Full listing: https://t.co/qKWsmO2tpo https://t.co/97g300eS6r
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Founder University Expands to Japan After Global Success
After the success of Founder University in both America and Saudi Arabia, we’re expanding to Japan! We’re hiring a researcher to help us discover the most promising startups in the region. It’s a huge opportunity to learn, grow, and get...
By Jason Calacanis
News•Nov 14, 2025
Theo Ai Lands New Funding
Theo Ai, an AI‑driven prediction platform serving Am Law 200 firms and corporate General Counsels, announced the creation of a General Counsel Advisory Board and a new funding round led by Run Ventures, pushing total capital raised above $10 million. The round...
By VC News Daily
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Lancey Automates PRs by Learning From Customer Channels
Lancey (@trylancey) is the multiplayer coding agent that builds what your customers want. Lancey scans your customer channels, builds an understanding of your codebase, and one-shots PRs. All in the background, without human prompting. Congrats on the launch, @_adipatel_ & @itsmeabhipatel! https://t.co/IpxLow4PtA
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 17, 2025
20VC: Europe’s Only Fund Embracing 996 Culture
20VC crushing the 996 London life. Only fund in Europe that works this. 🤷♂️ https://t.co/RkVTlQhcTW
By Harry Stebbings
Podcast•Nov 14, 2025•1h 2m
The Brutal Truth About Biotech: Why $2B Per Drug Is Killing Innovation
In this episode, venture capitalists Elliot Hershberg and Lada Nuzhna examine how soaring drug development costs—now around $2.5 billion per approval—are stifling biotech innovation, identifying three key forces they call the "three horsemen" that drive expense. They contrast the U.S. model...
By a16z Podcast
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Deedy Das and Jay Eum Join VC Roundtable
Deedy Das and Jay Eum Join the VC Roundtable! https://t.co/GLAHbFKopV
By Jason Calacanis
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Faire’s $5.2B Offer Highlights Public‑Company Worth
Long Faire 🚀 Long indie retail, long local communities, long craft, quality products. The $5.2B tender offer led by crossover investor WCW signals Faire has the attributes of a public company and has built a lasting, category-defining business. https://t.co/nYvdMAxuXG
By Kirsten Green
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Voize Raises $50M to Free Nurses From Admin
Congrats to voize on their $50M Series A! voize frees nurses from admin so they can focus on what truly matters: people. Today, more than 75,000 nurses in 1,100+ care facilities use voize to document care through natural speech, right at the...
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Compute Scarcity and Geopolitics Define AI's Future
“In my career working in AI, I have yet to meet a single AI person that ever felt like they had enough compute.” “Open-weight models is a tremendous source of geopolitical influence” “When China’s government makes an all-nation commitment, it’s a very...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Build for Users, Not Just for Funding
It was never “build what’s fundable” and it isn’t now. It’s always been: make something people want. This comes from users and customers and the needs of others.
By Garry Tan
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Funding Space Fusion, Not Just a Consensus Engine
We're funding space fusion and your take is we're building a consensus machine Maybe you need to look harder
By Garry Tan
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Even Disney+ Struggled: Forecasting New Brands Is Guesswork
5 learnings from launching (and attempting to forecast) Disney+ ... Forecasting a brand-new product, even one with Disney's IP library behind it, is a leap off a cliff. As Vanna Krantz , former CFO of Disney Streaming, told me: “We...
By CJ Gustafson
Social•Nov 18, 2025
AI Startups Outpace SaaS Growth Tenfold, Investors Must Choose
Why are AI companies growing SO MUCH FASTER than their SaaS counterparts? On average, AI companies are growing at about 10 times the speed as startups pursuing software-as-a-service business models. Investors now face a choice… “Bet on the past” by...
By Jason Calacanis
Social•Nov 15, 2025
VCs Vanish When Growth Is Steady, Not Hyper
I have a seed investment I made years back now at $130m ARR now growing 40% and cash flow positive. And all the VCs have checked out. They haven’t been mean about it. Everyone is nice. It’s just, one has...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 15, 2025
FoundHer House Empowers Women Founders Amid Funding Gap
Last year, women-led startups received just 2% of total venture capital funding a number that hasn’t changed much in more than a decade. That’s why stories like this one matter. Two of our USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy...
By Tina Sharkey
Social•Nov 15, 2025
Minority Recap Keeps Control, Majority Sells Liquidity
The fundamental difference between a minority and majority recap: Control. If you sell a majority of your business, you'll receive a high level of liquidity, but all the key decisions will now be out of your control. With a minority...
By Michael Lyon
Social•Nov 15, 2025
Harry, Rory, and Jason Return Live at SaaStr London
We're back! Harry, Rory and Jason! And come see the team LIVE at SaaStrLondon.com 1-2 in ... London!! The venture capital playbook is broken. Not bent — broken. In the latest 20VC x SaaStr episode, Harry Stebbings, Jason Lemkin, and...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 14, 2025
Key Takeaways From My Chat with Nihal Mehta
This was a fun conversation with Nihal Mehta of Eniac Ventures https://lnkd.in/eKaqvudG
By Chris Fralic
Social•Nov 14, 2025
AI Transforms Flexport Hackathons Into New Product Roadmaps
Flexport is at $2B annual revenue and just getting started. AI is so powerful it has turned internal hackathons into roadmaps for entire new product lines https://lnkd.in/g5pueCR7
By Garry Tan
Social•Nov 14, 2025
Take the 2025 VC Compensation Survey by Nov 20
Everyone, It’s that time of year when folks start to think about comp. In conjunction with the All Raise team, please find the link below. Please complete the following survey by Thursday, November 20th. We will share the results with...
By Richard Kerby
Social•Nov 14, 2025
Securing 18‑Month Runway at Startupfest
Thank you for having me at Startupfest! (Btw, I'm raising for 18 months of runway...)
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Nov 14, 2025
AI‑Powered UGC Game Platform Hits $200K ARR Fast
Sagaland is a UGC games platform where players create and remix games using AI. They're starting with interactive story games and have hit $200k ARR in 4 weeks. Congrats on the launch, @srijanyaham & @jeankaddour! https://t.co/YaxXFAbBZq https://t.co/gW8rmK8AJq
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Reelables Secures $10.4M to Scale Printable Smart Labels
Congrats to @ReelablesHQ on their $10.4M Series A! They've created the first printable smart label—paper-thin Bluetooth/5G trackers that work with standard barcode printers. They grew 200% this year and are scaling to 100M labels/yr to improve supply chain visibility. https://t.co/7GWxq3Trfm
By YCombinator