Welcome to The Full Stack Entrepreneur - our weekly newsletter where we share the most important startup resources of the week to help founders succeed on their entrepreneurial journey. 

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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.

🔥 The 9 laws of GTM success

Scaling a business isn’t just about sales and marketing, it’s about mastering the entire go-to-market (GTM) strategy. These nine laws reveal how high-performing companies align teams, execute effectively, and drive sustainable growth.

🔥 Seed-strapping: The new playbook for building profitable AI companies in 2024

AI startups are ditching massive funding rounds and proving they can grow fast with minimal capital. By leveraging API-based AI tools and focusing on efficiency, founders are scaling to millions in revenue without relying on VC cash.

🔥 Confessions as a CMO: Marketing hacks I stole from operations

CMOs who apply operational principles like role clarity, agility, and customer focus, can transform marketing from a creative function into a strategic growth engine.

🔥 Want to build better products, faster?

PostHog shares 50 hard-earned lessons on product development, from why small teams outperform to how shipping fast beats perfect planning.

⚙️ Founder Tool of the Week

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

🤳 Slate

This content creation platform helps brands and social media teams quickly produce high-quality, on-brand visuals and videos by streamlining editing, asset management, and collaboration.

📕 Interesting read

Ramp isn’t just throwing money at paid search, it’s refining its PPC strategy to focus on high-intent keywords that drive conversions. Instead of expanding its reach, the fintech unicorn has narrowed its keyword focus, aligning ads with product evolution and targeting industry-specific search terms.

The result? More efficient spending, stronger conversion rates, and sustainable growth proving that smart keyword selection beats a bigger budget.

💼 Get a Startup Job

🟢 Roku TV is looking for a Marketing Manager

🟢 Kollectiv.ai  is looking for a Founding Engineer

🟢 Roofstock is looking for a Senior Product Designer

🟢 Perplexity is looking for a AI Software Engineer

🟢 Nanit is looking for a Growth Marketing Manager

🗒️ Best Startup News of the Week

🗒️ CoreWeave plans $1.7 billion acquisition deal with AI developer platform ahead of IPO

AI cloud provider CoreWeave is making a big move ahead of its IPO with a $1.7 billion acquisition of Weights & Biases, a popular AI developer platform used by engineers from OpenAI and Meta. The deal could give CoreWeave a competitive edge, but questions about financial sustainability and regulatory scrutiny loom as it prepares for a Nasdaq debut.

🗒️ Ramp secures $13 billion valuation in deal allowing employees, investors to sell shares

Fintech startup Ramp has hit a $13 billion valuation in a $150 million secondary deal, letting employees and early investors cash out. Backed by Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital, and General Catalyst, the move signals strong investor confidence despite a cautious IPO market.

🗒️ Ryan Breslow is back as CEO of fintech Bolt, after years of controversy

Ryan Breslow has returned as CEO of Bolt, the one-click checkout fintech he founded, after stepping down in 2022 amid legal and investor disputes. The board's unanimous approval signals confidence in his leadership despite past allegations of misleading investors. As Bolt looks to regain momentum, questions remain about its financial health and a potential return to its once lofty $14 billion valuation.

🗒️ OpenAI reportedly plans to charge up to $20,000 a month for specialized AI ‘agents’

OpenAI is gearing up to launch high-priced AI "agents" tailored for tasks like software development and PhD-level research, with top-tier models rumored to cost up to $20,000 per month. While availability details remain unclear, this signals OpenAI's push into high-end AI products for enterprise customers.

🗒️ Klarna CEO doubts that other companies will replace Salesforce with AI

Klarna’s CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski is doubling down on the fintech’s decision to replace Salesforce with an in-house AI system but warns that most companies won’t follow suit. While Klarna’s AI-driven approach reportedly saved $40 million and streamlined operations, Siemiatkowski predicts the SaaS industry will consolidate rather than see a mass shift to custom-built AI solutions. With Klarna eyeing an IPO, all eyes are on whether this bold tech move gives it a competitive edge.

🦄 Mega Funding Rounds of the Week

 ➡️  Eikon Therapeutics, a startup that focuses on creating treatments for cancer and other serious diseases by tracking molecular movements within living cells.

Raised: $350.7 million Series D round, led by Lux Capital, with additional participation from Alexandria Venture Investments, The Column Group, Foresite Capital, and General Catalyst.

➡️  Raise, a company that operates a digital marketplace where users can buy and sell gift cards at discounted rates.

Raised: $63 million round led by Haun Ventures, with participation from Amber Group, Anagram, Blackpine, Borderless Capital, GSR, Karatage, Paper Ventures, Pharsalus Capital, Selini Capital, Sonic Boom Ventures, and the Web3 Foundation.

➡️  Bitwise, a startup that offers cryptocurrency investment products including index funds and ETFs to financial advisors, family offices, and institutional investors.

Raised: $70 million round led by Electric Capital, with participation from MassMutual, Highland Capital, MIT Investment Management Co., Haun Ventures, ParaFi Capital, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Blockchain Coinvestors, and Nikesh Arora.

➡️  Shop Circle, a startup that provides AI-powered software tools to help online brands with sales, customer engagement, and store management.

Raised: $60 million Series B round led by Nextalia Ventures, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, NFX, QED Investors, 645 Ventures, 3VC, and i80 Group.

➡️  Taktile, a startup that enables financial institutions and fintech companies to design, test, and optimize AI-driven decisions in areas like credit underwriting and fraud detection.

Raised: $54 million Series B round led by Balderton Capital, with previous investors Index Ventures, Tiger Global, Y Combinator, Prosus Ventures, Visionaries Club, and Larry Summers also contributing.

➡️  Ramp, a startup that provides businesses with corporate charge cards and software to manage expenses, pay bills, and automate accounting tasks.

Raised: $150 million secondary sale at a $13 billion valuation, almost doubling the valuation of its previous round last April. Investors include Stripes, GIC, Avenir Growth, Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, 137 Ventures, and Definition Capital.

➡️  Aescape, a startup that develops AI-powered robotic massage tables for fitness centers, hotels, and wellness facilities.

Raised: $83 million round led by Valor Equity Partners, with previous investors Fifth Wall, Alumni Ventures, and NBA star Kevin Love also taking part.

➡️  Callio Therapeutics, a company that is developing advanced cancer treatments using multi-payload antibody-drug conjugates.

Raised: $187 million Series A round led by Frazier Life Sciences, with additional participation from Jeito Capital.

➡️  Flowdesk, a startup that specializes in providing liquidity provision, over-the-counter trading, and treasury management services to token issuers, exchanges, and institutional clients in the cryptocurrency market.

Raised: $52 million Series B extension, increasing the round total to $102 million. The financing is approximately 80% equity and 20% debt. HV Capital was the lead investor, with Eurazeo, Cathay Innovation, and ISAI VC participating, and BlackRock providing the debt.

➡️  Mews, a company whose property management platform automates hotel operations, including reservations, payments, and guest services.

Raised: $75 million Series E round led by Tiger Global, with participation from Kinnevik, Battery Ventures, and Goldman Sachs Alternatives.

➡️  Odeko, a startup that provides supply chain management, inventory ordering, and mobile ordering systems for restaurants and cafés.

Raised: $96 million Series E round and $30 million in debt. The deal was led by B Capital. The company has raised a total of $280+ million.

➡️  Peregrine Technologies, a startup that develops data analytics software designed to assist state and local law enforcement agencies in organizing and interpreting unstructured and disconnected data.

Raised: $190 million round at a $2.5 billion post-money valuation. The deal was led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Goldcrest Capital, Friends & Family Capital, Fifth Down Capital, OG Venture Partners, and Godfrey Capital.

🤝 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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