Blog•Nov 2, 2025
20VC Newsletter - 2nd November 2025
The newsletter recaps three recent 20VC episodes, highlighting AI’s shift from dollars to gigawatts, the commoditization of compute, and the rapid scaling of AI startups to $100 M revenue, while questioning high AI talent pay and the relevance of gross margins. It also covers venture‑capital tactics, noting a16z’s high‑volume approach, the pros and cons of AI‑CapEx firm Mercor, and the strategic advantage of multi‑stage funds that can treat early checks as options. Finally, Tim Ferriss invites reader feedback, underscoring the community‑driven nature of the show.
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Nov 2, 2025
OpenAI Monitors Top Apps to Replicate Founders' Ideas
Hear my WARNING for ANY APP using OpenAI’s API… On an urgent new This Week in Startups clip, I'm warning founders that Sam Altman is ALWAYS WATCHING. Sure, companies that use the most OpenAI tokens get thank you emails and...
By Jason Calacanis
Social•Nov 2, 2025
Sciloop AI Automates End‑to‑End Scientific Research Loop
Sciloop (@SciloopAI) automates the entire scientific research loop from hypothesis generation to experiment design, execution, analysis, iteration— and drafts real research papers. https://t.co/r1FbEEsymk Congrats on the launch, @bilalasmat04 & @OsmanSiddiquer! https://t.co/Joyoks9w6v
By YCombinator
Podcast•Nov 1, 2025•39 min
Why Speed, Not Size, Will Define the Next War
In this episode, Horacio Rozanski of Booz Allen Hamilton and Gary Shield of Shield AI explain how speed, software agility, and public‑private partnerships are reshaping U.S. defense amid rising global tensions. They draw lessons from the Ukraine and Taiwan conflicts,...
By a16z Podcast
Social•Nov 2, 2025
Founders Are Inventing Tomorrow; “Too Early” Is Nonsense
Early stage VCs saying you are too early is like telling a time traveler they should have arrived yesterday. Meanwhile the founder is literally inventing tomorrow.
By Niko Bonatsos
Social•Nov 1, 2025
VCs Must Choose Between Steady Growth and AI Frenzy
Is Triple Triple Double Double good enough anymore? $1m ARR -> $3m ARR -> $9m ARR -> $18M ARR -> $36m ARR -> rocketship Here's the thing. On the one hand, of course it is. That compounds to 50%+ growth...
By Jason Lemkin
News•Oct 31, 2025
Elon Musk: OpenAI Betrayal, His Future at Tesla, and the Next Big Thing - Grokipedia
The episode dives into Elon Musk’s recent three‑year journey with X, examining the platform’s new algorithm, its impact on free speech, and the looming Tesla compensation vote that could influence his future at the company. It also critiques OpenAI’s shift...
By All-In Podcast
Social•Nov 2, 2025
Virality Amplifies Retention and Monetization, Not Guarantees Them
Going viral and having a high retention product people love (and pay for) are two different things Virality is just a multiplier on retention and monetization
By Garry Tan
Social•Nov 1, 2025
Bootstrapped SaaS Sold for $3.5M Proves Modest Success Works
We helped a founder sell their bootstrapped startup for $3,500,000 this week at @acquiredotcom. Another life changing outcome. Proof you don’t need a billion dollar startup to win. A profitable SaaS is enough. Huge congrats to the founder and to the next one...
By Andrew Gazdecki
News•Oct 31, 2025
Equity Live: From $300M Seed Rounds to Data Center Builds, AI Is Feeling Bubbly
During TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, the Equity podcast team hosted a live session on the Builders Stage to debate whether AI is in a bubble. They highlighted recent funding trends such as $300 million seed rounds and $100 billion of AI‑related commitments, and...
By TechCrunch Venture Feed
Social•Nov 2, 2025
VCs Need to Embrace Uncertainty in Their Opinions
Most VCs should be much less sure of most of their opinions most of the time.
By Jack Altman
Social•Oct 31, 2025
AI Agents Will Shrink Software Seat Counts
AI is coming for your seats. And it doesn't even mean to. What do I mean? We've gone from 0 to 12 AI Agents at little team SaaStr this year, and as part of that ... we don't need as...
By Jason Lemkin
Blog•Oct 31, 2025
Y-Combinator’s New Batch Doubles Down on Production-Ready AI, Unconventional Tactics for Validating Your Startup Ideas & Measuring True Efficiency in...
Paid AI adoption in the United States slipped 0.7% in September, but enterprise contract values surged from $143 K in 2024 to $530 K in 2025, showing a move from experimentation to deep integration. Y Combinator’s Summer 2025 batch of 165+ startups mirrors this...
By Sahil S
Social•Nov 2, 2025
Solo-Run LA Streetwear Generates $500K Sales via Community
This community driven Shopify brand is crushing it. LA streetwear label with 55K+ followers + $500K sales in 2024. > $162K TTM revenue > $25K TTM profit > 30% repeat buyers > Low overhead & solo-run Listing live @acquiredotcom: https://t.co/DXbtszYozp https://t.co/J8sxUtzKTj
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Oct 31, 2025
Securely Empower AI Agents to Spend with Controlled Budgets
Locus (@paywithlocus) gives your AI agents the ability to spend without losing control. A secure way to connect your agents to funds, with identities, budgets, and permissions. Make them pay: for anything, anywhere. https://t.co/Sw9dURzTLS Congrats on the launch, @coledermo & @eliotlee33!
By YCombinator
Podcast•Oct 31, 2025•38 min
Beyond Chatbots: Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz on AI's Future
In the closing keynote of a16z’s Runtime conference, host Erik Torenberg chats with co‑founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz about the event’s highlights, the current capabilities of large language models, and why massive AI capital expenditures don’t signal a bubble....
By a16z Podcast
Social•Nov 1, 2025
Founders Fund Leads Another Early-Stage Investment
founders fund early again :) https://lnkd.in/gHsqPnuu
By Hunter Walk
Social•Oct 31, 2025
IPO Valuations Dwarf Typical ARR Multiples
Times are good But Navan IPO’ing at ~$5B at ~$800M ARR run rate And JAMF selling for ~$2B at 3x ARR Well, they do make me wonder about some VC rounds these days
By Jason Lemkin
News•Oct 31, 2025
Arlington Capital Partners Closes Fund VII, at $6 Billion
Arlington Capital Partners announced the closing of its seventh fund at $6 billion, targeting government‑regulated sectors such as onshoring manufacturing and supply‑chain assets, mission‑critical software for government efficiency, defense technology, cybersecurity, commercial aviation, advanced medical devices, life‑sciences development, and healthcare technology....
By FinSMEs
Social•Nov 1, 2025
US VCs Dominate European Series A Funding
European VCs are getting their lunch eaten at Series A by the best in the US: 1. ElevenLabs, led by a16z @kirbyman01 2. Synthesia, led by FirstMark @mattturck 3. Legora, led by Benchmark @sarahtavel @chetanp 4. Fyxer, led by Madrona...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Oct 30, 2025
AI Agent Clones Recruiters, Boosts Hiring Speed Tenfold
AI didn’t replace recruiters, it cloned them. Serra is an AI recruiting agent that learns how you hire - your tone, your judgment, your style - and works 24/7 to find and engage the right candidates, both across the web...
By YCombinator
Podcast•Oct 31, 2025•1h 31m
20VC: Tim Ferriss: Why I Walked Away From Angel Investing After Uber | How I Accidentally Lost $150 Million |...
In this episode, Tim Ferriss reflects on why he stepped away from angel investing after his early involvement with Uber, recounting a costly $150 million mistake and how money both solved and later complicated his personal challenges. He shares insights on...
By The Twenty Minute VC (20VC)
Social•Nov 1, 2025
Founders Fail When They Chase Trends Over Real Pain
Too many founders fail because they build what’s really trendy rather than what’s really painful to customers.
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Oct 30, 2025
Unified API Lets You Trade Across Prediction Markets
Dome (@GetDomeAPI) is a unified API for prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi. Trade and analyze data across multiple platforms with one simple API. https://t.co/YsZk6Elw2Y Congrats on the launch, @kurushdubash & @princeofbothell! https://t.co/MxUm8aAQEE
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 2, 2025
Starcloud's First Satellite Deploys NVIDIA H100 for Space Data Centers
Congrats to @Starcloud_Inc1 on the launch of their first satellite, just 21 months from starting the company. This is the first NVIDIA H100 in space and paves the way for huge, solar-powered orbital data centers. https://t.co/ROxgwTOdP2
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 1, 2025
Lux to Invest Billions in UK Defense Tech
An inspiring talk Lux has been spending lots of time in UK We funded one of the most important new defense tech companies (Cambridge Aerospace) and with this kind of attitude will and spirit from @matthewclifford I expect we will invest billions...
By Josh Wolfe
Social•Oct 30, 2025
Steady SaaS: $1.9M Revenue, 30% Growth, 1% Churn
This one’s as steady as SaaS gets. Live on @acquiredotcom: Salesforce native SaaS powering human services agencies with automated case tracking and compliance infra. > $1.9M TTM revenue > $467K TTM profit > 30% YoY growth > 1% churn Full listing: https://t.co/qcO6uCJvdC https://t.co/PvFgsCdfGH
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Nov 2, 2025
Free AI Analyzer Grades Your VC Pitch Deck Instantly
Wondering if your VC pitch is good enough? SaaStr AI will tell you. Try the FREE SaaStr AI VC Pitch Deck Analyzer here -> https://t.co/S5UFYzoN7a Try it now. We'll grade it, tell you the exact odds you'll get funded, and...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Oct 31, 2025
Founders Quickly Become the Bottleneck, Not the Visionary
I have a long-running list of these surprises for first-time Founders and CEOs. Here are a few that weren’t on Brian’s list. 1. Your calendar becomes everyone else’s calendar. Every gap gets filled. 2. The hardest conversations are never on the calendar....
By Hiten Shah
Social•Oct 31, 2025
Japanese Founders Seek Global Vision in San Francisco
Inspiring to see Japanese founders come to SF to think globally!
By Ann Miura-Ko
Social•Oct 31, 2025
AI Hype May Be a Bubble, yet Results Prove Usefulness
It’s quite possible there is a bubble in AI… But looking at the last week’s results you’d have to be just completely delusional to claim that none of this works, none of it is useful and no-one is using it.
By Benedict Evans
Social•Oct 31, 2025
Consumers Redefine Products, Embracing Raw AI Power
The “pure consumer” debate shows how outdated our categories have become in today's market. We’re measuring success by yesterday’s playbook while the future is being built with new rules. ChatGPT reached 100M users faster than any product in history —...
By Kirsten Green
Social•Oct 31, 2025
Treat Seed Funding as Fuel, Not Runway
The real flex after raising your seed round; treating capital like 🚀 fuel, not runway and ship fast while others are still building pitch decks.
By Niko Bonatsos
Social•Oct 31, 2025
Sequoia Team’s Loyalty and Excellence Earn New Fund
If you have the chance to work with @roelofbotha @Alfred_Lin and the @sequoia team, you will be delighted by their work ethic, loyalty and commitment to excellence in company building. 🫡 Congratulations to the team on their latest funds 🙏🏼
By Jason Calacanis
Social•Oct 31, 2025
Profitable Skincare DTC Brand with 60% Repeat Rate
Love DTC brands built like this. Profitable e-com skincare brand with repeat customers & room to scale. > 1.2M TTM revenue > $334K TTM profit > 5000+ customers > 60%+ returning customer rate Now live on @acquiredotcom: https://t.co/Bd4vW4vxfy https://t.co/mPBpSG9VDe
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Oct 31, 2025
Sam Altman Owns No Shares in OpenAI
Is it >crazy https://t.co/jO7J7KEwjU https://t.co/qQMTBJGyLp
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 1, 2025
OpenAI Turns For‑Profit, Microsoft Takes 27% Stake
What I Read This Week... 1) OpenAI’s Corporate Evolution After months of speculation, the company has formalized its transition into OpenAI Group PBC, a for-profit public benefit corporation currently valued at $500 billion, controlled by the original nonprofit foundation. The shift ends its...
By Chamath Palihapitiya
Social•Oct 31, 2025
Demystify VC Funding with SaaStr AI VC
🤷♀️Getting funded shouldn't be a mystery 🔮Knowing the odds VCs will say Yes shouldn't be opaque 🤝 Meeting investors shouldn't require connections We're here to help. SaaStr AI VC -> https://t.co/XzJ5d0OYvZ https://t.co/XbFWOuetFF
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Oct 31, 2025
Founders Plead: Send an Email, Not 30‑minute Invites
Founders in 2025: “I am literally begging you to just send an email instead of a 30 minute calendar invite” https://t.co/3iEEBRXuTv
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Nov 1, 2025
Founders Need Others to Define and Validate Products
Engineers who need business people to tell them what customers really want are the same founders who need VCs to tell them their product is good.
By Niko Bonatsos
Social•Oct 31, 2025
Stability for Early Hires Boosts Retention, Not Motivation
I will respectfully disagree here. This allows for early employees to achieve stability - housing, bills, etc. I don't think it removes motivation. It removes anxiety however and creates longevity for your top talent.
By Cyan Banister
Social•Oct 30, 2025
20VC and SaaStr Return with Top Investors
We’re back!! 20VC x SaaStr with Harry Stebbings , Rory O'Driscoll and Jason! Bottom Line Up Front: Three seismic shifts hit venture this week. OpenAI completed the most significant corporate restructuring in tech history, clearing the path for a potential...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 1, 2025
Navan and Ariel Coco Celebrate Successful IPO Launch
Big congrats @Navan @arielcoco on IPO today https://t.co/QcM5koTHbZ
By Elad Gil
Social•Oct 30, 2025
From Amazon Carts to Startup Funds: Impulse Investing
Some people have a problem impulse buying on Amazon. Others impulse invest in startups (now in 15 secs).
By Ryan Hoover
Social•Oct 30, 2025
Top CEOs and Tech Leaders Headline Cerebral Valley AI Summit
Box & Vanta CEOs Join Cerebral Valley AI Summit Lineup + Kirsten Green, Parag Agrawal & Many More To Lead Discussion Groups https://t.co/87vOV5dqLa
By Eric Newcomer
Social•Nov 1, 2025
Boardy Boardman: AI Intro Partner Connecting VCs and Founders
I'm Boardy Boardman - an AI introduction partner who talks to hundreds of VCs and founders daily. https://t.co/4J8h8VYL9W
By Chris Fralic
Social•Oct 31, 2025
Question Investor's “Market” Terms; Verify Real Range
The terms of an investment will range on a scale of founder-friendly to investor-friendly. Investors won't always give you the full sense of that range. When presenting a given term (like % of a transaction placed in escrow), investors will...
By Michael Lyon
Social•Oct 30, 2025
Top Angels Fund Before You Perfect Your Deck
The best angel checks get written before the pitch deck is polished.
By Niko Bonatsos
Social•Oct 30, 2025
Fundraising Split: Easy for Some, Tough for Others
Fundraising today is like a Tale of 2 Cities: easy for some and hard for others. Especially at the Pre-A and Series A. More >>
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Oct 30, 2025
Founders Must Navigate AI IPO, $10B A16z, Series B Risks
We're back!! @HarryStebbings @rodriscoll + me! 1/ Three seismic shifts hit venture this week that every founder needs to understand: 1⃣OpenAI's $500B restructuring clears path to $2T IPO 2⃣A16z raises $10B (but it's more matchable than you think) 3⃣66% of Series B investments...
By Jason Lemkin