Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Clip raises $500M, pushes valuation past $2.5B
Mexican fintech Clip secured a $500M financing round, lifting its valuation to over $2.5B. The capital will fund a consumer‑focused wallet rollout and broaden its financial‑services platform. Investors were not disclosed and the round remains open.
Also developing:
By the numbers: OpenAI secures $122B private financing round
Top 10 Posts of 2025
The 2025 "Top 10 Posts" roundup highlights a paradox in AI: OpenAI pledged $1.15 trillion in compute contracts through 2035 while DeepSeek demonstrated a 90%+ drop in training costs with its V3 and R1 models. Nvidia’s $110 billion vendor‑financing scheme dwarfs the early‑2000s telecom bubble yet is backed by strong cash‑flow customers. Venture exits shifted dramatically, with second‑market transactions delivering 71% of 2024 liquidity, and public SaaS growth slowed to 17% as IPOs vanished. Together these trends reshape capital allocation, pricing, and product design across the tech ecosystem.
Money only Threatens You when It Buys All Ads
Don't fear competitors who've raised a lot, unless you can say precisely how all that extra money is going to make them beat you. E.g. if ads are the only way to acquire users, and they can buy all the...
Voice Interfaces Replace Keyboards for All Users
A few months ago, I wrote about being voicepilled after experiencing the magic of AI-powered voice-to-text. Today, I sit down with @WisprFlow Founder @tankots to ask the question: “What if we could get rid of keyboards?" Tanay is ushering in...
SelectFI Inks New Financing Round
SelectFI, an automotive AI firm that streamlines dealership financing, announced a new funding round led by StartFast Ventures. The capital infusion brings together a mix of venture firms, university partners, and seasoned automotive investors. SelectFI’s platform uses predictive intelligence to...
From Founder to CEO: AI Reset Drives Amplitude’s Revival
.@SpenserSkates has spent more than a decade building Amplitude from a YC startup into a public company, and in that time, he's had to reinvent himself just as much as the product. Joining the @LightconePod, he talks through the shift from...
Respect Entrepreneurs' Time: Plan, Punctuality Essential
@bhorowitz: ...bldg a co is xtremely hard & culturally, we want to have the ultimate respect...we don't want to waste any entrepreneur's time & so that's your most important thing... every time I have to like go to the meeting,...
Ripple Foods Nabs $17M Funding Round
Ripple Foods announced a $17 million financing round led by new investors Material Impact and Rich Products Ventures, alongside existing backers. The capital will be used to scale its pea‑protein based, high‑protein, allergen‑free plant milks and expand distribution. Ripple, a certified...
Founder Credit Card Points: Integrity Test or Fraud?
Is using company credit card points for personal travel a perk of the job? Or is it FRAUD?! A lot of founders see spending the points accrued from a company card on a personal vacay as essentially innocent, a way...
Remember Past Peaks to Fuel Future Leadership
As the CEO, it can be easy to stress about the next mountain to climb. Take a look back every now and then to remind yourself (and your team) about all the mountains you've already climbed.
He Launched a Tiny Ice Cream Factory, Now It’s a National Brand Ft. Alec Jaffe
In this episode, Mike Gelb talks with Alec Jaffe, founder and CEO of Alec’s Ice Cream, about creating a premium, gut‑friendly ice cream brand using A2 dairy and regenerative farming. Alec explains how he built a supply chain with family...
Startup Rebounds: From Stalled Growth to Resurgence
A year of smoothly exponential growth, and then suddenly it stops working. That has to be demoralizing. But the startup toughs it out, and five months later growth is back. https://t.co/tQM44KNJXY
David Meline Joins Lux Board, Brings Global CFO Expertise
Absolutely stoked to announce that David Meline has joined us on the Board of Lux family co @EikonTX David was: CFO Moderna CFO Amgen (2014-2020) CFO 3M (2011-2014) CFO GM (on 5 continents) and serves on the Board of HP, ABB, Lonza Group + the...
VC10X - Why Fundraising Is Now a Numbers Game (And How to Win) - Braughm Ricke, Founder, Aduro Advisors
In this episode, Braughm Ricke of Aduro Advisors explains how venture capital fundraising has shifted from relationship‑driven to a volume‑based numbers game, driven by data from over 650 firms managing $131 B+. He highlights the growing polarization between well‑capitalized “haves” and...
Build Apps on Your Phone with Simple Prompts
We seeded a company literally called @vibecodeapp - a mobile-first way to build apps with simple text prompts, on iOS or Android. Access to creating software on your phone is about to look nothing like what my generation learned. The shift...
Fast Experimentation Signals High-Performing Teams
How quick a team experiments is a good indicator of team quality.
The Metric that Predicts AI Product Success. | Why AI Coding Assistants May Slow You Down. | How to Actually...
The episode examines three core themes: the productivity paradox of AI coding assistants, which often slow developers despite a perceived speed boost and introduce security risks; the concentrated nature of AI venture funding, where massive capital flows into a few...
Never Ignore Random Big‑co Acquisition Calls—There’s Strategic Value
So one of the weirdest calls you'll get as a founder is when a BigCo out of the blue wants to talk about acquiring you. Literally out of nowhere. Now, sometimes it's for real. Sometimes, it's the start of something. But if...
Record Year: 9 New Investments, LP Liquidity, Two Funds
While we at Version One Ventures have been around for 13+ years, 2025 was definitely one of the most fun: 9 new companies (8 of which have hardware!), liquidity for LPs, and 2 new funds 👀 to back even more...
Kid's South Park Arbitrage Exposed Legal Gap, Birthed Billion‑dollar Market
The biggest prediction market in America just raised a billion dollars. The real story didn’t start in a boardroom. It started with a kid in New York arbitraging a 28-second delay in a South Park episode. That moment exposed something...
Finite Markets Burn Quickly: Beware Exhausting Your Leads
I was talking with a CFO last week who had what most GTM leaders would kill for: a perfectly defined market. Their company sells software to independent financial advisors. Not the ones at Merrill or Goldman... the 76,000 registered with...
Vista Point Advisors Launches New NYC Office
I’m excited to share that Vista Point Advisors is opening a new office right in the heart of New York City! This is a big step for us as we keep growing and getting closer to the amazing founders, investors,...
Excited Launch: Dive Into Wealthfront Investing Platform
BOOM let's go Wealthfront https://lnkd.in/gF5iacam
Nova AI Automates Hiring From Calls to Coding Interviews
Nova from @peopleboxai is a human-like AI that makes sourcing calls, screens resumes, conducts two-way video interviews, and runs live coding rounds in a single automated workflow. https://t.co/0z8WkpN7qX https://t.co/onTGhWMmAZ
Growth Depends on Uncontrollable Calendar Time, Not Just Action
There's 2 types of time in startups: 1) time to do something (you control that) and 2) Calendar time - the time required for a customer to buy and be successful. You can't control the latter, and this is a...
Bootstrapped SaaS Sold for $1.25M in 65 Days
We just helped a founder exit for $1,250,000 on @acquiredotcom. Business was a bootstrapped SaaS. Multiple 4.7x profit. Took about 65 days from listing to close. Another life changing outcome. https://t.co/z3cU78jzi5
Prep, Docs, Communication Accelerate M&A Deals
Another awesome @acquiredotcom webinar tomorrow. We'll be showing buyers and sellers how preparation, documentation, and clear communication make deals move faster. Register here (you'll get the recording): https://t.co/9GxFHTo3dz https://t.co/tAD5US18j5
Reid Hoffman Confirms He's Ruling
"You're ruling out a bubble bursting?" @reidhoffman: "Yes" https://t.co/LfVBBbZfsf
Excited to Lead $300M Round for Standout Infra Company
This is the most interesting infra company I have met in a long time Exciting to be leading their $300M round via Elad Gil & Co https://t.co/MQuO3ksdrk
AirGarage Seeks Head of Finance for Series B Growth
Any Heads of Finance looking for a new role? AirGarage, Series B stage portfolio co building a big business in an overlooked market, is looking. DM the CEO, @jonathonbarkl, if that's you. :)
Ignoring Low Standards Creates a New Normal
"If you see something below the standard, and don't correct it, you've set a new standard." ht: @bhorowitz
Prediction Markets Go Mainstream with Kalshi’s New Asset Class
From fringe to mainstream, prediction markets are now part of everyday culture. @Kalshi has created a new asset class and fundamentally changed how people engage with future events. Congrats to @mansourtarek_, @luanalopeslara & team. @Sequoia is proud to be on your...
Avoid Nonprofits for AI Products: Simplify Legal Structures
another reminder folks - plz don’t start a non-profit if you want to build ai products, it literally makes no sense, you will have to do the awks conversion or spin out a newco don’t invent complicated legal structures that add...
VCs Inflate Ownership Stakes with Optimistic Rounding
When a VC tells me they own 10% It's usually like 6%-7% It's the VC version of optimistically rounding up
Custom Weekend Code Will Outpace Pricey SaaS
Zoho’s business would be first to be competed away by people building their own custom software built by people using @Replit @emergentlabs and @Taskade Why pay $30/seat/month for over bundled SaaS when soon even nontech ops ppl can vibe-code a...
Software Will Be Free; Value Moves to Scarce Hardware
One-to-many software companies might not exist in 3 to 5 years. Software production is en route to becoming abundant and free. When one component of production becomes abundant and cheap, value accrues to what remains scarce scarce and difficult (e.g. those...
Airport Lounge Club Could Tap $500M Market
Huge opportunity for someone to create a membership club like SOHO house for airports There are 100,000 people who would pay $5,000 a year — $500m — in the USA to have lounges at the top 100 airports I guess...
PE Fuels Growth for Companies at Scalability Inflection Point
What a private equity firm is particularly good at is identifying companies that have reached an inflection point in terms of scalability. If a firm can spot a company with a proven thesis, they can invest behind that knowing it's...
Grateful for Founders' Support, More Stories Coming
Thank you Jordan Nel for telling the Version One Ventures story better than we could 🙏 and the ~200 founders who welcomed us on their journey so there'd be a story to begin with 🩷 Lots to write still... and...
Relentless Execution, Not Strategy, Fuels DoorDash's Dominance
DoorDash CEO @t_xu's philosophy: "If you're in technology and you are not making improvements, you are actually decaying. Until it's over all of a sudden." The key wasn't strategy. It was relentless execution and obsession over tiny details that save seconds...
Healthcare RCM: $300B Inefficiency Sparks Massive Innovation Opportunity
At Field Ventures, we invest in vertical software businesses that modernize antiquated industries. Today, we're witnessing one of the most compelling opportunities in healthcare technology: revenue cycle management (RCM). With over $280 billion flowing through the U.S. healthcare billing system...
AI Sets New Fundraising Bar; VC Returns Evolve
We had our annual general meeting right before Thanksgiving, and every year I share some of what we covered. Last year, I shared a post about three potential states of the venture capital world, as I felt we were in...
Own the AI Narrative or Lose Market Leadership
If you don’t own the AI narrative in your industry, someone else will—fast. It's not enough to just quietly do the work. Now, more than ever -- it's important to also win the narrative. Founders still consistently...
Investors Bet on Nuclear Tensions, Fresh Defense Capital
Nuclear Rivalries & Hadrian’s Fresh Funds: Defense Investors' Year-End Bets https://t.co/X75Amdor1M
SaaStr Fund Backed Us Since Pre‑Seed
Boom!! Proud @saastrfund has been an early investor since pre-seed!!
Seek Out Doers, Not Just Talkers
Look for the doers. https://t.co/FbyE6M4KnV
USV Robotics Secures Another Strategic Investment
Announcing another @usv robotics investment!
Stuart Faught’s Formula Sold 18 Startups for Millions
Stuart Faught has sold 18 startups (yes seriously) on @acquiredotcom totaling millions in closed acquisitions. Here's how he makes that happen: https://t.co/cLIHwCEGgj
Henry Kravis Shares Secrets to Building a $100B Firm
Fireside w me & Henry Kravis of @KKR_Co and a legend in alternative asset management / PE 🔥 -Starting KKR -What to look for in people you hire -Transforming businesses -Building a $100B public company -Who he would have dinner with if could chose anyone? Hosted...
Getting Ready for Massive Live Podcast at SaaStr AI London
Prepping for massive live pod with @HarryStebbings @rodriscoll and me tomorrow at SaaStr AI LDN!! https://t.co/GrNgLU8TVB
Conventional Wisdom Is Frequently Mistaken
Conventional wisdom turns out to be often wrong . . .