🎯Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Updated 1h agoWhat's happening: Tangled secures $4.5M to build Europe’s open‑source GitHub alternative
Finland‑based Tangled closed a $4.5 million round led by byFounders, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto, Antler and angels including former GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke. The startup is developing a next‑generation code‑collaboration platform on Bluesky’s AT Protocol to offer an open, API‑less alternative for European developers. The capital will accelerate product development and market rollout.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Horizon Minerals raises $185M in institutional placement
Podcast•Oct 20, 2025•1h 8m
95% Faster Video Production with Synthesia | Victor Riparbelli
In this episode, Victor Riparbelli, co‑founder and CEO of Synthesia, explains how his AI‑driven platform lets anyone create video without cameras, cutting production time by up to 95% and opening new possibilities for content creators. He and Kleiner Perkins partner Josh Coyne discuss the broader implications of video and audio supplanting text as the dominant medium for knowledge sharing, and how this shift creates a fresh product‑market fit landscape. The conversation also highlights Synthesia’s rapid scaling, its impact on billions of users, and the strategic outlook for AI‑generated media in the future.
By Grit (Kleiner Perkins)
Social•Oct 20, 2025
Deel’s $300M Raise Reveals Aggressive Acquisition Strategy
I fricking hate podcasts where the guest does a podcast tour to promote something. @Bouazizalex just raised $300M+ at a $17BN+ valuation. He did one podcast to discuss the round and the crazy last 12 months. 20VC. - Raising $300M from Ribbit, a16z and...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Oct 20, 2025
Join SaaStr Fund: Fast-Track Venture Deal Experience
I’m hiring an Associate at SaaStr Fund ($200m AUM) The job: 1️⃣ Screen 50+ inbound deals/week, find the 2-3 worth the deep dive. 2️⃣ Help manage the new https://t.co/D1x4RaX5t7 which over 5,500 founders have used in 5 years anywhere else for...
By Jason Lemkin
Blog•Oct 19, 2025
20VC Newsletter - 19th October 2025
The 20VC newsletter (Oct. 19, 2025) distills three podcast episodes featuring Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon‑Brookes, investors Rory O’Driscoll, Jason Lemkin and Roger Ehrenberg, and Warp CEO Zach Lloyd, highlighting how AI will expand software development, reshape pricing models, and leave...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Oct 20, 2025
Real Traction Speaks: Customers Return, Pay, and Refer
Most founders waste time trying to look like they have traction. When traction’s real, you don’t need to choreograph it. It shows up when people return, pay again, and bring their friends. Customers end up doing the advertising for you.
By Hiten Shah
Social•Oct 20, 2025
Back AI’s Good Guys to Drive Safe Innovation
1/ I want to state plainly: in all industries, especially in AI, it’s important to back the good guys. Anthropic is one of the good guys. More thoughts about why we need to fuel innovation and talk safety at the same...
By Reid Hoffman
News•Oct 19, 2025
E635 | EUCVC Summit 2025: Francesco Di Lorenzo, Copenhagen Business School: Nordic CVC Insights
The EUVC podcast recap highlights four recent summit episodes, with the lead focus on Francesco Di Lorenzo’s Nordic CVC insights, while also covering Kristaps Ronis’s take on structured secondaries, Alper Oner’s Turkish gaming success story, and Seb Agertoft’s founder‑coaching perspective. Across the episodes, listeners learn...
By The European VC (EUVC)
Social•Oct 20, 2025
Biannual Mock Fundraises Sharpen Founders' Reflection
Raising can be a grind, but it’s a good forcing function to reflect. Founders (and VCs) might benefit from doing biannual mock fundraising prep.
By Ryan Hoover
Social•Oct 19, 2025
Innovation Quest Launches: 70+ Founders Ignite AI Ventures
2025 USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy Founders Bootcamp Friday we kicked off the annual Innovation Quest with our 2025 Founders Bootcamp. Standing-room only & filled with energy, insight, & community. Over 70 IYA undergraduate &...
By Tina Sharkey
News•Oct 18, 2025
E634 | EUCVC Summit 2025: Christian Tang (Acme) & Claus Gregersen (Augustinus Fabrikker): Global Ambition in an Age of Sovereignty
The EUVC podcast episode E634 explores how European venture capitalists can maintain global ambitions amid rising sovereign‑first regulations, with insights from Christian Tang of Acme and Claus Gregersen of Augustinus Fabrikker on cross‑border investing, deal structuring, and founder strategies in...
By The European VC (EUVC)
Social•Oct 19, 2025
Incumbents Erode OpenAI Share; Coding Tools Decline
Here are two very important charts about the current AI boom. Chart 1: Distribution Matters Open AI is still the clear leader but, interestingly, they are loosing percentage share as the market grows. This is normal for a category leader but...
By Chamath Palihapitiya
Social•Oct 19, 2025
Four Free AI Tools to Accelerate Fundraising
SaaStr.ai just launched four FREE AI tools that can save founders 100+ hours in fundraising prep. And maybe even get you funded: 1️⃣ AI Start-Up Valuation Calculator. Get VC-grade valuations using data from 5,000+ recent rounds, public comps, and AI insights....
By Jason Lemkin
Podcast•Oct 17, 2025•1h 13m
20VC: The Startup Adding $1M ARR Every Week | Competing Against OpenAI's Codex and Claude Code: Who Wins | Why...
In this episode, host Harry Stebbings talks with Zach Lloyd, founder and CEO of Warp, about the startup’s rapid growth—adding $1M ARR each week—and its battle against AI coding assistants like OpenAI's Codex, Anthropic's Claude, and Google's Gemini. Lloyd explains...
By The Twenty Minute VC (20VC)
Social•Oct 19, 2025
Angel Fundraise Details Reveal Top 1% Founders
You can tell a top 1% founder purely from how they structure the angel component of a fundraise. The blurb they suggest. The forwardable email they send for each. The specific angels they want in. All says so much about their...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Oct 19, 2025
Bootstrapped Screen‑mirroring App Nets $1.8M Profit
Some mobile apps are crazy profitable. This one generates $1,800,000 per year!🤯 Now live on @acquiredotcom: Top rated iOS apps for screen mirroring and remote control. > 570K monthly users > $3.5M revenue > $1.8M profit > Bootstrapped Full listing: https://t.co/T7kDgxkfQp https://t.co/p6BkZYUyqN
By Andrew Gazdecki
News•Oct 17, 2025
E633 | EUCVC Summit 2025: Anne C. Fleischer (Novo Nordisk) & Henrijette Richter (Sofinnova Partners): Innovation in Health
The post previews the EUCVC Summit 2025 episode featuring Anne C. Fleischer (Novo Nordisk) and Henrijette Richter (Sofinnova Partners) on health‑sector innovation, and then recaps three recent EUVC podcast episodes that dive into structured secondaries in venture, a Turkish gaming...
By The European VC (EUVC)
Social•Oct 19, 2025
Startups Funding Peers: Warning Sign of a Bubble
Startups investing in other startups... is this peak bubble behavior? https://t.co/1paenKbhQh
By CJ Gustafson
Social•Oct 19, 2025
Speed Is a Feature of the Best
Just sent a deal to a dear friend and mentor who is one of the greatest of our time. Sent at 8:12AM PST and response provided to me and founder by 8:18AM. Speed is a feature of the best.
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Oct 19, 2025
Get Pre‑Screened Dealflow Directly on Our Waistlist
VCs: Want more dealflow? With deals pre-screened, selected, and analyzed for you? Get on our waistlist here -> https://t.co/t0woGMPLz6 https://t.co/LWckPofGUm
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Oct 19, 2025
Executive‑Retail Dialogues Redefine Market Dynamics
Back at Reddit, we saw how powerful real conversations between companies & communities could be. That same energy is reshaping markets. @StakeholderLabs , a @sevensevensix co, just launched @Marketopolis with @Benzinga to help execs talk with retail investors, not at them.
By Alexis Ohanian
Social•Oct 18, 2025
AI Funding Surge Leaves Traditional SaaS Exits Stalled
樂 Who Will Buy The SaaS Companies? We're sitting on a problem many don't want to talk about: the traditional SaaS exit playbook is breaking down. Even for very good SaaS companies For years, it was predictable. Build to $20M-$50M ARR,...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Oct 18, 2025
Startups Use Proxy Metrics to Fake Early Traction
SHOWING TRACTION BEFORE YOU HAVE TRACTION Everybody knows that startups thrive when they have “real” traction — that is revenue, active users, great retention curves, and a fast growth rate. However, startups also find themselves in a catch-22 where they're not...
By Andrew Chen
Social•Oct 18, 2025
Top NBA Owner Calls ATHLOS Conference Best Ever
The Friday Morning of ATHLOS, we held our first STARTING LINE CONFERENCE to bring together the best builders, owners, and investors at this intersection of emerging sports x tech. As always, we followed up with everyone to get feedback on how...
By Alexis Ohanian
Social•Oct 18, 2025
First‑Check Investors Celebrate Big Dreams and Community
Reminiscing on the @sevensevensix investor community event a few weeks back! Team-bonding, founders dreaming big and a room buzzing with possibility. Nights like this remind us why we love being the first check into founders with BIG ambitions. Some of us...
By Alexis Ohanian
Social•Oct 18, 2025
Solo Founder Sells $144K ARR CAD SaaS for $740K
These are the kinds of businesses you never hear about but they print money. Now live on @acquiredotcom: CAD + calculation SaaS for building engineers. > $144K ARR > $140K profit > Solo founder > Asking: $740K Full listing: https://t.co/WAQyftmp01 https://t.co/h9PkXiqvj7
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Oct 18, 2025
Treat Founder Attention Like Cash: Say No
Founders: if it’s not a top priority, it’s a "no". If it might be later, it’s still a "no" for now. Protect your attention like cash. That’s how you win.
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Oct 18, 2025
Originality Gives Innovators Edge Over Mere Copycats
It's easier to innovate when you're the original of something. People copying you can only copy a snapshot of your current state. They don't know which aspects of the snapshot are essential and which are random things you'd been about...
By Paul Graham
Social•Oct 17, 2025
Choose the Right Location for Your AI Agents
It's 9:30 AM. Do you know where your agent is? As we enter the era of agentic AI, this is an increasingly important question. ChatGPT launched the consumer use of AI, compressing all of human knowledge into a single model. Now...
By Tomasz Tunguz
Social•Oct 17, 2025
B2B Influencer Fees Need Tiered Pricing, Not Flat Rates
Dear CMO: Thanks again for offering me $800 to write 10 X and LinkedIn posts for you as a "B2B Influencer"! I do think these programs make sense. (If and until algos kill them.) Every B2B marketer seems to think...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Oct 17, 2025
AI Success Lies in Resegmenting, Not Creating New Categories
Most AI products aren’t creating new categories. They’re resegmenting existing ones. Understanding the difference shapes everything about how you build, market, and scale. Resegmentation means taking a job people already understand and making it faster, clearer, or more accessible. Category creation means...
By Hiten Shah
Social•Oct 17, 2025
Contrarian Bets Turn Impossible Ideas Into Success
Nine out of ten people might tell you you're crazy. The tenth might see what you see. This week on the Lightcone, @garrytan, @harjtaggar, @snowmaker, and @sdianahu discuss contrarian bets — the ideas that look impossible until they work. From Uber...
By YCombinator
Social•Oct 17, 2025
Small SaaS Apps Can Yield Real Exits
Tom Ulman (@TomUlman) acquired two small SaaS tools (Text Run and Waitlist Email) that already had users, traffic, and potential. Then he did what great founders do best: executed. > Focused on paying users > Simplified the product > Improved support > Let SEO and...
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Oct 17, 2025
Bootstrapped Agency Sells for $1.6M, Defying VC Need
Nice way to end the week at @acquiredotcom. We just closed an agency for $1,600,000 cash. Completely bootstrapped. More proof you don't need venture capital to win. https://t.co/RMGykfRnMP
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Oct 17, 2025
Consumer Software Thrives on Community Co‑Creation and Feedback
Loved hosting this off-the-record talk w/ @southpkcommons founders about what’s next in consumer software. The beauty of consumer is a community that builds w/ you—immediate feedback loops, use case evolutions, evangelism. No better time than this current period of creativity and...
By Kirsten Green
Social•Oct 17, 2025
Let Curiosity Lead You to Meaningful Work
“Curiosity is the best guide. Your curiosity never lies, and it knows more than you do about what’s worth paying attention to.” Paul Graham on How to Do Great Work: https://t.co/Tv7W8Lqx0v
By YCombinator
Social•Oct 17, 2025
Software OS Boosts VC Firm Accountability and Transparency
The best part of building an operating system to run your VC firm is all the accountability and transparency it brings your org - all thanks to the magic of software. https://t.co/42TuNDK2Dx
By Alexis Ohanian
Social•Oct 17, 2025
Kushner Brothers Leverage Billionaire Status for Tech Deals
Must be tough being a Kushner kid @JoshuaKushner - "Just raised $25B and invested in OAI, Stripe, Databricks" @jaredkushner - "Hold my beer, am heading to the Middle East"
By Elad Gil
Social•Oct 17, 2025
AI-Designed Enzymes Boost Carbon Capture, Powered by LLMs
Incredible work by one of our 776 fellows, applying AI to engineer better carbon capture enzymes. Wild to see LLM's driving climate innovation already @hla_michael Check it out ⬇ https://t.co/YXyQUseoj3
By Alexis Ohanian
Social•Oct 17, 2025
Top Startups Hoard Cash, Rarely Spend Raised Funds
This is common among the most successful startups. It may seem wasteful, but it's a good idea to have some extra money in the bank as insurance against disasters, and the most successful startups have that luxury.
By Paul Graham
Social•Oct 17, 2025
Zepto Secures $450M Funding, Hits $7B Valuation
Congrats to @zeptonow on the $450M round at $7B valuation! Zepto is dominating India's quick-commerce market with 1.7M daily orders (up from 500k five quarters ago). They're now operating 1,000+ dark stores across 80+ cities, with 10M+ new monthly users. https://t.co/XI4ZhfiTHd
By YCombinator
Social•Oct 16, 2025
Veteran VC Roger Ehrenberg Warns on Market Missteps
We're back with another deep dive into the shifting landscape of venture capital, and this week we're joined by a legend who's seen it all—Roger Ehrenberg. Roger founded IA Ventures in 2008, building one of the most respected early-stage portfolios...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Oct 16, 2025
Navigating Friend Investments and Staying Top‑of‑Mind
I've certainly had the experience of opening LinkedIn, TechCrunch, Axios, or Term Sheet, only to read that someone I know well has started a new company or raised a round that I wish I had seen. It never feels great,...
By Charles Hudson
Social•Oct 16, 2025
AI‑native Startup Central Raises $8.6M to Automate Back‑office
Congrats to @CentralHQX on their $8.6M seed! Central is the AI-native platform that eliminates back-office work for startups. While HR/payroll platforms give you software to figure it out, Central actually does all the work using agents and human experts across payroll, benefits,...
By YCombinator
Social•Oct 16, 2025
Your Biggest Customer Is Your Biggest Vulnerability
While many think having a "largest customer" is an asset, it's actually a company's biggest weakness. If you can feel a single customer leave, you're in a delicate spot. If you have a customer you can't afford to lose, you're...
By Jason Fried
Social•Oct 16, 2025
Unlock Existing ChatGPT Auth, Not New Sign‑In Layer
Huge if true. Wrote a bunch about the Sign in with ChatGPT opportunity back in April. “Today, there’s no secure way to link a ChatGPT account to another tool. No OAuth. No scoped tokens. No way to persist context responsibly. What’s needed...
By Hiten Shah
Social•Oct 16, 2025
Semble AI Cuts Fire‑System Design to Five Minutes
Semble AI automates fire-system design for construction companies. It used to take billions of dollars and thousands of hours of manual drafting, building code lookups, and back-and-forth with permitting authorities. With Semble AI, it takes 5 minutes. https://t.co/fJLjwfMRYN https://t.co/qDiY9vmn4d
By YCombinator
Social•Oct 16, 2025
AI Support Engineers Boost IT Provider Speed and Margins
Everest (@_everestai) builds AI support engineers for outsourced IT providers, who service IT for 90% of SMBs. Everest helps them resolve tickets faster and increase margins. Congrats on the launch @yolandaaacao and @spenmcke! https://t.co/bnClbudy5Z https://t.co/wtB2VTMMaM
By YCombinator
Social•Oct 16, 2025
AI Automation Startup Achieves 326% YoY Growth
Solid AI automation startup listed on @acquiredotcom. Mind blowing 326% YoY growth! 🤯 > $2.9M TTM revenue > $961K TTM profit > 5000+ customers > Inc. 5000 ranked > $10M prior valuation Check it out here: https://t.co/YNOfwS36HJ https://t.co/6mEIjy6Wf5
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Oct 16, 2025
Automation Cuts Millions of Hours From Insurance Tasks
Healthcare staff spend millions of hours each year calling insurance companies and navigating portals. @SplendorHealth automates insurance workflows (benefits verification, prior auth monitoring, credentialing) for healthcare companies, eliminating the headaches of portal access, EDI, and AI phone calls. https://t.co/YsY0INT8ZT Congrats on the launch,...
By YCombinator
Social•Oct 16, 2025
Deel Secures $300M Funding, Valued Over $17B
Today @Bouazizalex announced that @deel have raised $300M at a $17BN+ valuation. He only did one podcast to announce the round and discuss the last 12 months. 20VC… coming on Monday 👇 https://t.co/n4ezdUmA5A
By Harry Stebbings