Today's Venture Capital Pulse
YourNest VC launches $48M continuation fund for deep‑tech follow‑ons
YourNest Venture Capital closed a ₹400 cr ($48 million) continuation vehicle, the YourNest Continuum Fund I, after oversubscribing with family offices, individual investors and existing LPs. The fund is anchored by HDFC AMC Select Fund of Funds I and will provide follow‑on capital to deep‑tech portfolio companies such as Miko, Dozee, Opkey and Exponent Energy.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Mach Industries raises $300M Series C
David Sacks: AI, Crypto, China, Dems, and SF
In this episode, White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks joins Marc, Ben, and Erik to dissect the Trump administration’s approach to AI and crypto, highlighting a regulatory capture strategy by major AI firms. He argues that open‑source technology is America’s hidden advantage in the global AI competition and warns of an emerging infrastructure bottleneck that could decide the race’s outcome. Sacks also shares his perspective on the broader geopolitical stakes, including China’s role and the political dynamics shaping U.S. policy.
OpenAI's Growth Threatened by Competitive Margin Compression
The actual risk is not that OpenAI collapses, but that they become one of five players in a highly competitive market. They will face margin compression and declining market share, which reduces a 30x+ price to sales ratio down to 5x,...
Seeking Small-Team Feedback for New Mainframe Product
We backed @jsngr's prev co (acq. by Figma). We also backed his second co, Mainframe. They're building something new and want to get feedback from small teams (<10 people). DM Jordan if you're keen to share. :)
Rebuilding Front for the AI Era | CEO Dan O’Connell
In this episode, Dan O’Connell, the new CEO of Front, discusses how the company is navigating the AI revolution by balancing legacy systems with innovative technology, emphasizing that the toughest part of transformation is deciding what to let go of....
Act Fast on Good VC Offers—Don’t Delay
Founders when you meet a VC and they give you a good offer. By running a “process” you are optimising for one of two things: 1. Price 2. The best partner If you have both, just do the deal now. Delay...
Lettuce Financial Raises $28M in Funding
San Francisco‑based fintech Lettuce Financial, which offers the soloOS platform to help solopreneurs manage taxes and business finances, announced a $28 million financing round led by Zeev Ventures. The capital will be used to broaden its operations and accelerate product development....
Alphabet Is Increasingly Launching ‘Moonshot’ Projects as Independent Companies — Here’s Why
Alphabet’s X moonshot factory is moving toward spinning out ambitious projects as independent companies through Series X Capital, a $500 million fund where Alphabet is only a minority limited partner. The fund, run by former YouTube and Facebook executives, invests exclusively in X...
Market Soars, Yet B2B Deals Remain Hard
New!! “Nasdaq Reaches Another ATH. Nvidia Tops $5T. But Navan’s IPO and JAMF’s $2B Exit Show B2B Still Isn’t Easy.” https://t.co/T5c5VRn0Sp https://t.co/T5c5VRn0Sp
Sequoia’s Roelof Botha Warns Founders About Chasing Sky-High Valuations as the Firm Doubles Down on Its Selective Approach
At TechCrunch Disrupt, Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha cautioned founders against chasing sky‑high valuations, recounting a portfolio company that surged from $150 million to $6 billion in a year before collapsing. He urged startups to raise capital only when a twelve‑month runway...
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...
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
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....
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.
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
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,...
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
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
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...
VCs Need to Embrace Uncertainty in Their Opinions
Most VCs should be much less sure of most of their opinions most of the time.
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Founders Fund Leads Another Early-Stage Investment
founders fund early again :) https://lnkd.in/gHsqPnuu
Make One Precise, Ready-to-Execute Ask to Busy People
If you are pinging someone who’s busier than you, you should have a single well-thought-out specific ask. Only ask for something you truly cannot do on your own, and where you have done everything you possibly can by yourself. For example,...
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....
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.
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...
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....
Navan and Ariel Coco Celebrate Successful IPO Launch
Big congrats @Navan @arielcoco on IPO today https://t.co/QcM5koTHbZ
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.
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
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
Japanese Founders Seek Global Vision in San Francisco
Inspiring to see Japanese founders come to SF to think globally!
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.
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.
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 🙏🏼
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
Sam Altman Owns No Shares in OpenAI
Is it >crazy https://t.co/jO7J7KEwjU https://t.co/qQMTBJGyLp
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!
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
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
I’m Unable to View the Linked Tweet, so I Can’t Generate a Headline.
https://t.co/AiXIkG4BHK
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
China Leverages State Power to Forge Global Monopolies
China is a conglomerate willing to use its GDP and power to cross-subsidize any internal business that benefits from scale economies and network effects, until that business achieves a global supply monopoly.