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💻 Resources of the Week

In this section, you will find the best resources that we have seen in the last week. All of them help you grow your startup from 0 to 1.

🔥 One minute blog: the #1 trait for a cofounder

Looking for the perfect cofounder? It’s not just about intelligence or work ethic, the most underrated trait is finding someone who’s down for the ride. More on this here.

🔥 How to deal with an angry customer

Angry customers can be a nightmare or a golden opportunity. With the right approach, you can turn frustration into loyalty and even create brand ambassadors.

🔥 12 takeaways from Alex Hormozi's scaling workshop

Want to scale your business in 2025? These game-changing insights from Alex Hormozi’s $5,000 workshop reveal how to optimize operations, hire the right people, and maximize growth.

🔥 Customers don't care about your AI feature

Slapping "AI-powered" on your product won’t make customers trust it, pay more, or get excited. New research reveals why AI marketing often falls flat (and what actually works).

⚙️ Founder Tool of the Week

In this section, we share one tool that helps you build your startup.

🌐 Relume

This advanced AI-powered website builder is designed to streamline the web design process for both designers and developers.

📕 Interesting read

DeepSeek-R1 has shaken the AI industry by matching OpenAI’s performance at just a fraction of the cost, by using reinforcement learning instead of traditional fine-tuning. The open-source model has skyrocketed in popularity, topping downloads on Hugging Face and the iPhone app store.

With its low-cost, high-efficiency approach, DeepSeek-R1 challenges the position of proprietary AI models and could reshape enterprise AI strategies. This article analyses how DeepSeek achieved this breakthrough and what it means for the future of AI.

💼 Get a Startup Job

🟢 Blueprint Technologies is looking for an Azure Support Engineer.

🟢 Bitcoin Depot is looking for a Business Development Manager.

🟢 Airbnb is looking for a Product Sourcing Manager.

🟢 Ava Labs is looking for a Graphic Designer.

🟢 Archer is looking for a Data Scientist.

🗒️ Best Startup News of the Week

🗒️ OpenAI says it has evidence China’s DeepSeek used its model to train competitor

OpenAI claims that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek used its proprietary models to train its system, raising concerns over intellectual property theft. The technique, known as "distillation," allows smaller AI models to learn from more advanced ones, but OpenAI argues this violates its terms of service. The dispute highlights growing tensions over the “AI war” between the U.S. and China.

🗒️ Nvidia sheds almost $600 billion in market cap, biggest one-day loss in U.S. history

Nvidia's stock plunged 17% on Monday, wiping out nearly $600 billion in market value the largest single-day loss for a U.S. company. The sell-off was driven by fears of rising competition from China's DeepSeek, which has developed an advanced AI model using cheaper hardware.

🗒️ Geek Ventures, a fund that specializes in backing immigrant founders, is raising a second fund

Geek Ventures is raising its second fund to continue investing in early-stage immigrant founders, according to a SEC filing. Founded in 2021, the firm has backed over 60 companies, including AI developer Spice AI and networking platform Saturday. While the target amount for Fund II remains undisclosed, it has already secured $9 million in its first sale.

🗒️ 2025 will likely be another brutal year of failed startups, data suggests

Startup failures surged in 2024, with shutdowns rising by over 25% compared to the previous year, and 2025 could be even worse. Many startups funded in the boom years of 2020-2021 are now struggling to survive due to overvaluation, lack of product-market fit, and dwindling venture capital. Experts predict more closures in early 2025 before the market stabilizes later in the year.

🗒️ Bookshop.org is launching e-books to help local bookstores compete with Amazon’s Kindle

Bookshop.org, the indie-friendly alternative to Amazon, is expanding into e-books to help local bookstores stay competitive in the digital age. The platform, which has grown steadily since its 2020 launch, allows bookstores to keep most of the revenue from online sales.

🗒️ Excitement builds around Web3 and crypto, but VC dollars don’t follow

Despite renewed optimism around crypto and Web3, venture capital funding in the sector remains slow. In Q4 2024, Web3 startups raised just $1.8 billion, an 18% drop from the previous quarter. While crypto markets surged following policy shifts from the new U.S. administration, investors have yet to significantly increase their bets on the industry.

🗒️ 5 charts: Europe’s VC dealmaking decline lingers amid flight to quality

Europe's venture capital activity continued to decline for the third straight year in 2024, with deal value dropping 7.9% and deal count falling over 23%. Investors are focusing on fewer but higher-quality deals, with AI startups like Poolside and Lighthouse securing some of the largest rounds.

🦄 Mega Funding Rounds of the Week

 ➡️ Anthropic, a startup that is developing AI systems that prioritize safety, alignment, and transparency.

Raised: $1 billion round from previous investor Google.

➡️ Highnote, a startup whose platform enables businesses to create and manage virtual and physical payment cards as well as handle transactions.

Raised: $90 million Series B round led by Adams Street Partners, with additional participation from previous investors Oak HC/FT, Costanoa, WestCap, and Pinegrove Venture Partners.

➡️ Neko Health, an AI-based body scanning startup co-founded by Spotify's Daniel Ek.

Raised: $260 million Series B round at a $1.8 billion valuation. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round, with General Catalyst, O.G. Venture Partners, Rosello, Lakestar, and Atomico participating.

➡️ Fundraise Up, a startup that provides nonprofits with tools for donor engagement, payment processing, and personalized giving experiences.

Raised: $70 million round. Summit Partners led the deal, with previous investor Telescope Partners also contributing.

➡️ StackBlitz, a startup that uses AI to enable developers to write, test, and deploy code directly in the browser, eliminating the need for local development environments.

Raised: $83.5 million Series B round at a $700 million valuation. The deal was co-led by Emergence and GV, with Madrona, Mantis VC, and Conviction also taking part.

➡️ ElevenLabs, a startup whose software can generate voices in different languages, accents, and emotions.

Raised: $250 million Series C round at a $3 billion to $3.3 billion valuation. ICONIQ Growth reportedly led the round, with previous investor Andreessen Horowitz also opting in.

➡️ ShopMy, a startup that helps brands manage and optimize their influencer marketing campaigns.

Raised: $77.5 million Series B round at a $410 million post-money valuation, a 5X+ increase over its last round in March 2024. Bessemer Venture Partners and Bain Capital Ventures co-led, with Menlo Ventures, Inspired Capital, and AlleyCorp also taking part.

➡️ Mercor, a startup that connects experts in fields like law, medicine, and chemistry with contract positions to assist in developing AI models for companies such as OpenAI.

Raised: Approximately $75 million round at a $2 billion valuation, despite being valued at $250 million just five months ago. The round is still open. Prior investors include Benchmark, General Catalyst, and the Anthology Fund (a joint venture between Menlo Ventures and Anthropic) as well as Peter Thiel, Jack Dorsey, and Larry Summers.

➡️ TravelPerk, a business travel management platform.

Raised: $200 million Series E round at a $2.7 billion valuation—almost double the $1.4 billion valuation at its previous fundraise last year. Atomico led, with participation from EQT Growth, Noteus Partners, Kinnevik, and General Catalyst, among other existing investors.

➡️ Alice & Bob, a startup developing quantum computers for applications in cryptography, materials science, and drug discovery.

Raised: $104.3 million Series B round co-led by Future French Champions, AXA Venture Partners, and Bpifrance, with previous investors Elaia Partners, Breega, Supernova Invest, and Bpifrance also taking part.

➡️ Helicore Biopharma, a startup founded last year that is developing treatments for obesity and related health issues.

Raised: $65 million Series A round co-led by Versant Ventures and OrbiMed, with Longitude Capital and Wellington also contributing.

➡️ Helion, a company developing a fusion energy generator.

Raised: $425 million Series F round at a $5.2 billion valuation. Investors included Lightspeed Venture Partners, SoftBank, and an unnamed university endowment as well as previous investors Sam Altman, Capricorn Investment Group, Mithril Capital, Dustin Moskovitz, and Nucor.

🤝 About this newsletter

We are writing this newsletter to inspire you and share the lessons we and other founders learned along the way so that you can build your startup easier, faster and more successful.

If you have any feedback, ideas, or topics we should cover, don't hesitate to reach out to us via Email or LinkedIn. 

The BT Crew

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