🎯Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Updated 38m agoWhat's happening: AI fuels record $119.5B venture fundraising despite fewer rounds
Venture capital fundraising jumped 16.9% to $119.5 billion in 2025, the strongest recovery since the 2022 market reset. The total number of rounds fell 41% to 4,859, concentrating capital in larger AI‑focused financings, with AI startups capturing 58% of Series D cash and median valuations rising across all stages.
Also developing:
By the numbers: OpenAI raises $110B in corporate funding
Blog•Dec 1, 2025
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 foundational model and infrastructure players, leaving application-layer startups to compete on differentiation; and the continued dominance of the US VC ecosystem, highlighted by rapid growth in new US cities and global shifts like Saudi Arabia's surge in growth. Key takeaways advise founders to use AI tools as scaffolding rather than a silver bullet, focus on solid engineering practices, and consider the competitive funding landscape when positioning their startups. The host, Sahil R., leverages industry research and recent reports to provide actionable insights for founders navigating AI product development and fundraising.
By Sahil S
Social•Dec 1, 2025
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...
By Michael Lyon
Social•Dec 1, 2025
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...
By Angela Tran Kingyens
Podcast•Dec 1, 2025•58 min
The $700 Billion AI Productivity Problem No One's Talking About
In this episode, Russ Fradin and a16z General Partner Alex Rampell argue that the $700 billion AI productivity gap stems from a lack of robust measurement infrastructure, similar to what drove the internet ad boom. They explain how companies struggle to...
By a16z Podcast
Social•Dec 1, 2025
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...
By YCombinator
Social•Dec 1, 2025
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...
By Richard Kerby
Podcast•Dec 1, 2025•58 min
Building Cloudflare for the Next 50 Years | Co-Founder Cloudfare Michelle Zatlyn
In this episode, co‑founder and President Michelle Zatlyn discusses Cloudflare’s long‑term vision for securing the internet and supporting creators in an AI‑driven landscape. She highlights how the company balances rapid growth with staying close to customer realities, and outlines strategies...
By Grit (Kleiner Perkins)
Social•Dec 1, 2025
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...
By Charles Hudson
Social•Dec 1, 2025
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...
By Angela Strange
Podcast•Dec 1, 2025•1h 13m
E660 | This Week in European Tech with Dan, Mads, Lomax & Robin
The episode dissects Europe’s tech climate, covering policy moves like EU child‑social‑media bans and UK startup‑friendly budget reforms, while highlighting regulatory friction exemplified by N26’s German battles and VAT compliance woes. Robin Haak provides insider perspective on Germany’s macro challenges—energy...
By The European VC (EUVC)
Social•Dec 1, 2025
AI Boom Spurs High-Paying Data Center Jobs
In the coming months and years, there will be more conversations about what the American workforce looks like in the age of AI. Instead of asking whether AI will eliminate ALL our jobs, we should be thinking about how to...
By Reid Hoffman
Social•Dec 1, 2025
AI-Driven Custom Apps Will Eclipse Traditional SaaS
SaaS is Over: " SaaS apps were built at a time when software was relatively hard to build. Now many of these AI applications are easy to build on top of these LLMs. Most companies will start building custom software super easily." @jonsidd Love...
By Harry Stebbings
Blog•Nov 30, 2025
20VC Newsletter - 30th November 2025
In this 20VC newsletter episode, Harry Stebbings interviews Base44 founder Maor Shlomo, who argues that traditional SaaS will fade as "vibe coding" enables companies to own their tools and data, and highlights Google as the real competitive threat while emphasizing...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Dec 1, 2025
Data Labeling Market Faces Revenue Concentration and Synthetic Threat
Data labelling is a fricking hard market and there are some core questions. 1. Why does no player want to be called a talent marketplace? 2. Is the proclaimed “revenue” real revenue or GMV? 3. What are the margins given the GMV structure...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Dec 1, 2025
Airstreet Backs Europe's Breakthrough Visual AI Startup Flux
new on the press: unveiling @airstreet's investment in the leading frontier ai company for visual intelligence, @bfl_ml from the black forest 🌲 @robrombach @andi_blatt and their team have shipped the world's most popular image generation and editing models, FLUX - and...
By Nathan Benaich
Social•Dec 1, 2025
Founder CEOs Drive Most B2B IPO Wealth
The GOATs of B2B: The Founders That Delivered The Biggest IPO Returns of All How founder CEOs created generational wealth for investors who believed in their vision While Wall Street debates the next big IPO, some B2B software founders have...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Dec 1, 2025
Investors Bet on Nuclear Tensions, Fresh Defense Capital
Nuclear Rivalries & Hadrian’s Fresh Funds: Defense Investors' Year-End Bets https://t.co/X75Amdor1M
By Eric Newcomer
Social•Dec 1, 2025
SaaStr Fund Backed Us Since Pre‑Seed
Boom!! Proud @saastrfund has been an early investor since pre-seed!!
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Dec 1, 2025
Seek Out Doers, Not Just Talkers
Look for the doers. https://t.co/FbyE6M4KnV
By Alexis Ohanian
Social•Dec 1, 2025
USV Robotics Secures Another Strategic Investment
Announcing another @usv robotics investment!
By Albert Wenger
Social•Dec 1, 2025
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
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Dec 1, 2025
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...
By Elad Gil
Social•Dec 1, 2025
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
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Dec 1, 2025
Conventional Wisdom Is Frequently Mistaken
Conventional wisdom turns out to be often wrong . . .
By Ben Horowitz
Social•Dec 1, 2025
When Founders Chase Imaginary Problems
Founders solving problems that doesn't exist: https://t.co/t3JMsUJYDs
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Dec 1, 2025
AI's Ripple Effects: Energy Ambition Can Boost Jobs
Amidst doomerism, it's essential to consider the second-order effects of AI. Ex: Data center investment has been massively positive for blue-collar workers. If we matched that level of ambition in domestic energy (necessary), we’d unlock similar gains across the workforce. https://t.co/QhksSGZs04
By Reid Hoffman
Social•Dec 1, 2025
Prioritize Distribution Before Perfecting Your Product
Focus your startup on distribution 1st then build the best product 2nd.
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Dec 1, 2025
Venture Valuations Are Speculative Bets on Future Worth
Most venture valuations aren’t real — per se They are bets They are bets you will be worth a lot, lot, lot more. Not tomorrow. But fairly quickly.
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 30, 2025
Fund Startup Ops with Bond Interest, Not Dilution
I talked to a startup today that had been forced to take so much from investors and whose expenses were so low that they could put the money in bonds and fund their operations off the interest. I told them...
By Paul Graham
Social•Nov 30, 2025
Hobby‑Driven F1 Gaming SaaS Hits $33K ARR
Love seeing founders turn their hobbies into profitable businesses. Live on @acquiredotcom: F1 gaming performance tracker SaaS. > $33K ARR > $26K TTM profit > 15% growth Full listing: https://t.co/k4yxWJv4Lx https://t.co/DaibGHHotW
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Nov 30, 2025
Last Ten Seats for Angel Investors at SF Dim Sum
hosting dim sum in SF on Friday for 150 investors and my latest 10 investments... have ten seats left for active angel/seed investors. please email your angellist/linkedin profile to demoday@launch.co to apply for one going to be amazing networking!
By Jason Calacanis
Social•Nov 30, 2025
Swiss Voters Reject Initiative, Boosting Tech‑AI Appeal
Very smart to have squashed this Switzerland is in a great spot for tech + AI cycle and will probably attract more talent! “More than 80 per cent rejected the initiative, with about 42 per cent of the population participating by...
By Nathan Benaich
Social•Nov 30, 2025
Scaling to $100M Is Getting Dramatically Faster
The pace from $1m to $100m keeps accelerating. Proud to be a supporting investor (and very early customer) at @saastrfund
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 30, 2025
Fundraising Slumps No Longer Mean Failure
I met with a startup in the current batch who seemed demoralized because fundraising was going badly. Later I learned they'd already raised a million dollars. Fundraising going badly is not what it used to be.
By Paul Graham
Social•Nov 30, 2025
Investors Overlook That This Work Already Feels Automated
I was talking recently to a startup using AI to take over a certain kind of work. Apparently investors are skeptical that AI could do it. I told them they should point out that most of this work already seems...
By Paul Graham
Social•Nov 29, 2025
Start Small, Focus on Core Questions, Avoid Overreach
Instead of getting carried away, it's nice to be carried back instead. What's the essence of this? What's the core? Where's the epicenter? Have we slipped away from that? Good questions to ask when making the first version of anything. If...
By Jason Fried
Social•Nov 29, 2025
Profit Without Growth Halves PagerDuty’s Valuation
PagerDuty has fallen to $1.1 Billion market cap … at $500m ARR 2.1x ARR It’s profitable now, but it isn’t growing anymore. Revenue growth has slowed to 4% and new customer count is net 0. The markets reward growth. Efficient growth...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 29, 2025
Support Kara Nortman's Next Big Venture
Go Kara Nortman https://lnkd.in/gpy3arfQ
By Hunter Walk
Social•Nov 29, 2025
Penang Emerges as Supply‑Chain Resiliency Hub
Honored to be part of history-in-making as I see Penang and its startups and founders emerging as a region to watch. Supply chain resiliency is a key top of mind consideration for governments and companies. Besides being faster, better, (more...
By Jenny Lee
Social•Nov 29, 2025
Compressing Data for LLMs Equals Understanding and Innovation
I talked to a startup yesterday that had been forced to compress certain information to fit it into an LLM context window. But compression is understanding, and in the compressed form the information could be used for other, new things.
By Paul Graham
Social•Nov 29, 2025
Startup Founders Trace Multi‑generational Tech Company Lineage
I met a startup today whose founders had previously worked at Coinbase and Scale. And Brian Armstrong of Coinbase had himself worked at Airbnb. I bet 3 "generations" is not the record though. Anyone know of a longer chain?
By Paul Graham
Social•Nov 29, 2025
Lux Capital Revives Vintage Tech with Luxury‑Style Ads
1/ Introducing (in this 🧵 thread below) Lux Capital’s new luxury vintage technologies… (inspired by WSJ magazine fashion ads which ALL have the SAME algorithmic layout: 1 page has model modeling new luxury jewelry or watch; adjacent page has item by...
By Josh Wolfe
Social•Nov 29, 2025
AI Voiceover App Delivers 90% Margins, $250K Revenue
90% margins on this app! AI text-to-speech app for generating voiceovers in seconds. > $250K TTM revenue > $180K TTM profit > 100% YoY growth Live on @acquiredotcom: https://t.co/HtzQVs42uS https://t.co/in7czbVTl1
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Nov 29, 2025
Both Founders and Investors Envy Each Other's Roles
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I know so many founders who wish they were investors, and so many investors who wish they were founders again.
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Nov 28, 2025
US Buyers Pay Premium for Software Thanks to Bigger TAM
In the international M&A/private equity markets, US buyers/investors tend to be the most aggressive in terms of valuation (specifically for software & internet companies). The primary reason is that TAM in the US represents a much larger opportunity compared to...
By Michael Lyon
Social•Nov 28, 2025
Founders Must Remain Hands‑On After Hiring First VP
The biggest mistake you can make as a founder when you hire your first VP of Sales is stepping out of sales I see this again, and again It only works with the very best VPs of Sales Every other first VP of...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 28, 2025
AI Will Democratize Creation Like Anchor Did
Every major shift in consumer tech has a moment when it suddenly becomes accessible to millions. Michael Mignano (@mignano) helped spark one of those moments with Anchor, making podcast creation something anyone could do with a tap. Now at Lightspeed,...
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 28, 2025
Remote-First, Transparent, Accountable Teams Drive Billion-Dollar Success
I love @Linear’s approach to life-work balance. I believe that high accountability, high transparency, remote-first environments can work to build multi-billion-dollar outcomes. It’s the kind of model we’re building at @sevensevensix. https://t.co/mvTRMkMu4I
By Alexis Ohanian
Social•Nov 28, 2025
Efficient Operations Teams Are the Hidden Winners
I think operations is one of the areas and startups that people talk the least about. But the most efficient teams are the ones that end up winning.
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Nov 28, 2025
That Look When European Seed Funds Lose a Term Sheet
The face every European seed fund sees before they lose the term sheet 🤣 https://t.co/luEqQH95ly
By Harry Stebbings