If you're building, investing, or just trying to stay ahead of the curve, you're in the right place. Every week, we break down the latest insights, funding news, and founder-friendly gems—no fluff, just what matters. Plus, we track the freshest VC funds deploying capital so you know where the money’s moving.

Let’s get into it 👇

In-Depth Insights 🔍

• Marc Lore’s Billion-Dollar Playbook 🎯
  A masterclass in strategic fundraising. Lore raises real money with a capital plan that maps every round, growth phase, and proof point like clockwork. [Mario Gabriele]

  

• Rude Q&A: The constructive devil’s advocate ❓
  Every good idea deserves a beatdown. This devil’s advocate framework tears through founder bias and builds sharper strategy - fast. Brutal, unfair, essential. [Jason Cohen]

• Indirect competitors: The shortcut to better customer discovery 🔍
  Your biggest insights aren’t hiding in your direct rivals - they’re in the ones you ignore. Jeroen Coelen shows how indirect competition reveals real customer behavior and early product risks. [Jeroen Coelen]

• What Founders Should Know About Immigration and Visas ✈️
  a16z breaks down how founders actually navigate O-1s, RFEs, and post-program life in the U.S. Real paths. Real cases. [a16z speedrun,

  Ryan K. Rigney
  ]

  

• How Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Rewrites the Rules of Search 🔎
  Don’t optimize for search engines. Optimize for memory. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is how brands win the LLM game - and how relevance beats ranking.

• To Grow Faster, Think Smaller 🧩
  Growth isn’t about going big - it’s about going deep. Sean Byrnes explains why your smallest segment might hold the key to breakout scale. [Sean Byrnes]

• Knowledge Work Is Dying - Here’s What Comes Next 🧠
  AI is replacing expertise. The next edge? Wisdom work. Think clarity, discernment, and connection - the stuff machines can’t fake.

Trending News ⚡

• Humain planning $10B VC fund to invest in US, European, and Asian startups 🤖
  Saudi Arabia’s new AI heavyweight, Humain, is raising a $10B venture fund - targeting U.S. tech royalty like a16z, OpenAI, and xAI. World domination? Just getting started. [Tech Crunch]

  

• Whalar Group acquires creator startup for $20M 🤝
  Whalar just scooped up Business of Creativity to boost its grip on the creator economy - think scalable tools for brand deals and digital education. [Business Insider]

• Introducing Perplexity Labs 🧪
  Perplexity drops Labs - a Pro-only mode that turns vague ideas into reports, dashboards, or apps. Hours of grunt work, gone in minutes.

• Open-sourcing circuit tracing tools 🖥️
  In a bid for AI transparency, Anthropic + Decode launch tools that let researchers trace how large language models think - circuit by circuit. [Anthropic]

• xAI to pay Telegram $300M to integrate Grok into the chat app 📱
  Elon’s xAI cuts a $300M deal with Telegram to integrate Grok into chats - bringing the AI sidekick to millions and splitting subscription revenue along the way. [Tech Crunch]

• Gemini will now automatically summarize your long emails unless you opt out 📩
  Gemini will now auto-summarize long Gmail threads - surfacing key points by default. Helpful or creepy? Depends on your inbox anxiety. [Tech Crunch]

  

• Researchers Say New Contact Lenses Let You See in the Dark 🕶️
  Researchers debut contact lenses with infrared sensitivity - giving users literal night vision and potential tools for the colorblind and covert ops. [Futurism]

Social Media Gems 💎

• How VCs Actually Value Startups 💸
  Ruben Dominguez Ibar breaks down the VC Method, step by step - with an Excel tool that models exit math, dilution, and investor returns like a pro.

• “Try crazier stuff.” - Brian Armstrong 🧠
  Writing billion-dollar goals before they made sense? That’s how Coinbase happened. Wild visions bend reality - if you dare to write them down.

• AI PM Starter Pack for Builders (No Fluff Edition) 📚
  Paweł Huryn dropped a structured, no-code-first guide for PMs diving into AI. Clean. Tactical. Zero bloat. [Paweł Huryn]

  

• 16 Enterprise AI Playbooks, One Link 🏗️
  From McKinsey to Microsoft - cut through the noise and steal strategy from the best. No more PDF scavenger hunts.

  

New Funds 💰

• Emil Capital Partners rebranded as ECP Growth and closed Fund IV at $100M targeting consumer innovation.

• South Loop Ventures raised $21M for its debut fund, focused on early-stage Midwest tech startups.

• Mitsui Chemicals launched its second $60M corporate VC fund to drive sustainability a

  nd innovation.

• Cathay Innovation completed a $1B global fund to back next-gen startups across health, finance, and climate.

• FundersClub planning to raise $176M for its fourth fund, continuing its digital-first investment model.

• Metalayer Ventures closed Metalayer Fund I at $25M to invest in AI infrastructure and tooling.

• TMR Ventures raising $40M for its inaugural fund to focus on deep tech and frontier markets.

• HJF MDC Venture Fund looking to raise $20M to support dual-use technologies with military and civilian applications.

That’s a wrap for this week.

If you want to stay ahead of the curve, make sure you're subscribed. No fluff, just real startup insights delivered straight to your inbox.

See you next time 🚀