Tech and startups: 8th April 2025

• OpenAI secured a historic $40 billion investment from SoftBank, marking the largest startup financing ever and significantly boosting North America's Q1 investment figures despite declines in seed and early-stage funding.

• Global venture funding in Q1 2025 showed the strongest quarter since Q2 2022, with total funding reaching $113 billion, a 54% year-over-year increase largely driven by outsized AI deals.

• AI image and video startup Runway raised $308 million at a $3 billion valuation, introducing its Gen-4 model that enables video creation with consistent characters and backgrounds.

• Space solar startup Aetherflux raised $50 million to develop its first space solar power demonstration, planning to launch a satellite that will transmit energy via lasers to ground stations by 2026.

• Plaid closed a $575 million investment at a $6 billion valuation, providing tools for seamless bank account integrations across over 12,000 financial institutions.

• SandboxAQ, an Alphabet spinoff focused on AI and quantum computing, secured an additional $150 million in Series E funding from investors including Google and Nvidia, bringing its total raised to over $950 million.

• Cyberhaven raised $100 million for its AI-powered data protection platform that monitors unauthorized data usage and ensures secure handling of sensitive information.

• The World Fund urges a fundamental redesign of computing to meet AI's growing energy demands, proposing advancements like Gallium Nitride chips, quantum computing, and optical computing to decarbonize AI technologies.

Part 2: Beyond Code, The Power of Communication (danielsada.tech, 2025-04-02). Daniel Sada Caraveo emphasizes that technical skills are only part of success in software careers; effective communication, public speaking, and engaging presentations are equally vital, particularly when working with tools like Git and during migrations

Week 13-14, 2025 - Anxiety and Excitement (peterszasz.com, 2025-04-04). Péter Szász discusses managing anxiety and excitement, highlighting the physiological similarities and advocating for reframing crises as opportunities, while also introducing tools like Git Who to understand code contributions

The humanity in each line of code (bhupesh.me, 2025-04-06). Code carries human emotion and significance, challenging the industry's rationality. It emphasizes care in coding, emotional intelligence, and practical tools like Go, all while confronting burnout and commercial pressures in software engineering

This is why you're not shipping (newsletter.posthog.com, 2025-04-03). Red flags for teams shipping fast include relying on 1:1 meetings, needing approval, poor team ownership, and maintaining comfort over chaos. Solutions involve transparency and empowering engineers with tools like GitHub

Vibe Management (yieldcode.blog, 2025-04-01). Vibe Management promotes the idea of using AI tools like ChatGPT to replace middle and upper management, allowing professionals to 'vibe' through their careers without traditional managerial roles

Relationships, feedback, and organizational cultures 💡 (refactoring.fm, 2025-04-07). Explore the importance of intentional relationships and feedback mechanisms in organizational cultures, covering tools like Augment for coding, and Netflix's feedback framework emphasizing clear communication and collaboration

Falsehoods software teams believe about user feedback (iftheshoefritz.com, 2025-04-03). Software teams often hold false beliefs about user feedback, leading to miscommunication and misinterpretation that can impact productivity and relationships with users

Scaling Google Ads: Lessons from an $80B Journey with Sanjay Datta (mostlymetrics.com, 2025-04-07). Sanjay Datta discusses scaling Google Ads to an $80B business, monetization models, forecasting, and analytics, alongside his experience growing Upstart and insights on management and the lending industry

Notes - Beyond Agile: Product innovation at Google, Airbnb, Spotify, Vinted & Amazon (thinkinglabs.io, 2025-04-06). Explore how Google, Airbnb, Spotify, Vinted, and Amazon achieve product innovation through seamless integration of discovery, delivery, and the use of systems like the Nervous and Immune Systems for enhanced agility

Notes - Myths and Legends About Big Tech (thinkinglabs.io, 2025-04-05). Kai Hansen discusses the reality of working in Big Tech, addressing myths like infinite budgets, bureaucracy, and the importance of bottom-up ideas, shared data, team autonomy, and adaptability in organizational structure

Engineering-Enabled Velocity (avivbenyosef.com, 2025-04-02). Focusing on engineering velocity alone can limit a company’s impact; leveraging Tech Capital through innovation, cross-company insights, and advanced tools like AI copilots can drive significant operational improvements

Strategy is compressing (proofofconcept.pub, 2025-04-06). Modern AI and tooling have compressed strategy cycles, moving from traditional long-term planning to dynamic, real-time decision-making driven by user feedback and rapid prototyping, emphasizing clarity and alignment

More devops than I bargained for (fasterthanli.me, 2025-04-07). After a disaster recovery experience, the author optimizes servers by moving to a more cost-effective aarch64 instance, utilizing Kubernetes, DNS, Docker, and automated processes for CI/CD using ARM64 architecture

The Best Programmers I Know (endler.dev, 2025-04-04). Exceptional programmers prioritize understanding their tools, reading documentation, breaking down problems, and embracing continual learning. They effectively communicate, help others, and build reputations while staying curious and grounded in their craft

I'm on Fallthrough: APIs: Design Imperfectly, Improve Relentlessly (jvt.me, 2025-04-07). Jamie Tanna joins Fallthrough podcast to discuss API design, the importance of building and maintaining APIs, and shares personal anecdotes about preparation and thoughts lost during recording

Part 6: Full-Scale Development & Agile Iterations (idiallo.com, 2025-04-03). Explore the transition from solo coding to collaborative agile iterations in full-scale development. Learn about sprints, structural planning, and the importance of stakeholder feedback for projects like FamFlix

Vibe coding on the 20th floor (manton.org, 2025-04-04). Vibe coding revolutionizes programming by enabling rapid development without extensive review, leveraging tools like AI and frameworks such as Cocoa to increase productivity for developers and allow for solo project completion

None (dbushell.com, 2025-04-05). David Bushell critiques the large size of npm create t3-app and its impact on web development practices among junior developers, emphasizing a more fundamental, un-tooled approach

Levels doing things that don’t scale (alexanderjarvis.com, 2025-04-05). Levels.fyi transitioned from Google Sheets to a traditional backend, enabling 1-2 million monthly users to access tech career and compensation data through a scalable architecture without premature optimization

Stripe doing things that don’t scale (alexanderjarvis.com, 2025-04-05). Stripe exemplifies the principle of 'doing things that don’t scale' by initially focusing on manual user installations and custom support, creating developer-friendly APIs, and building a reputation through word-of-mouth growth

Stacked diffs and tooling at Meta with Tomas Reimers (newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com, 2025-04-02). Tomas Reimers discusses Meta's advanced developer tools, including stacked diffs and monorepos, and their influence on coding efficiency, code reviews, and the rise of AI in software development

The Curve is Bending (grantslatton.com, 2025-04-05). The integration of advanced AI models like o1-pro and Claude Code leads to significant productivity gains in software development, enabling developers to complete complex tasks more efficiently with tools like Zed Editor and intelligent microtools

The importance of supervising your AI coding agents (leaddev.com, 2025-04-02). Supervised coding assistants, like Cursor and Cline, are transforming software development, requiring disciplined oversight of code quality and observability alongside evolving tools like Weights & Biases Weave to ensure effective collaboration with AI

The Cost of Agentic Coding (smcleod.net, 2025-04-03). Agentic coding revolutionizes software development, offering productivity gains of 300-1,000% and unlocking economic potential with tools like Cline and Claude Sonnet 3.7, transforming traditional workflows and project feasibility

Gene Kim on developer experience and AI engineering (newsletter.getdx.com, 2025-04-07). Gene Kim discusses how developer experience, platform engineering, and AI reshape software development, emphasizing the importance of addressing coordination challenges and the evolving roles within engineering teams due to AI capabilities

AI agents as 'first-class citizens' in software development (nextbigteng.substack.com, 2025-04-04). AI agents are becoming 'first-class citizens' in software development through MCP, enabling secure connections with tools, thus transforming developer experience into agent experience as efficiency and interoperability rise

Knowing where your engineer salary comes from (seangoedecke.com, 2025-04-06). Understanding the financial rationale behind engineer salaries in tech companies emphasizes the importance of connecting work to profit centers, using analytics tools, and recognizing market conditions for job stability

How to resource Engineering-driven projects at Calm? (2020) (lethain.com, 2025-04-03). Balancing engineering priorities at Calm involves addressing urgent tasks and long-term projects, focusing on policies, using tools like 'RICE' scoring, and initiatives like code-free media releases and machine-learning content placement

How to handle complexity (badsoftwareadvice.substack.com, 2025-04-07). Miscommunication between Product and Engineering leads to complexity in software development. Understanding primary and secondary complexity, along with effective communication, is crucial for reducing technical debt and enhancing product management

How Product Managers and Engineering Teams Can Work to Together To Tackle Tech Debt (loufranco.com, 2025-04-05). A discussion on how Product Managers and Engineering teams can collaborate to address tech debt, featuring insights from Lou Franco, Arin Sime, and Kent McDonald, and highlighting concepts from Franco's forthcoming book

A startup doesn't need to be a unicorn (mattgiustwilliamson.substack.com, 2025-04-07). A startup can thrive without unicorn aspirations; there's a viable middle path using less than $1M with a focus on profitability and minimal equity dilution, counter to venture capital norms

Two Years Building Workbrew, a Remote-First Enterprise Homebrew Startup (mikemcquaid.com, 2025-04-07). Mike McQuaid reflects on founding Workbrew, an enterprise layer over Homebrew, after leaving GitHub. The startup pivoted from IoT tools, raised VC funding, and built a responsive remote team focused on developer productivity

Four years of running a SaaS in a competitive market (maxrozen.com, 2025-04-04). Max Rozen shares insights from four years of building OnlineOrNot, emphasizing customer feedback, minimal viable features, and effective time management strategies in a crowded SaaS landscape

Simply Change your Network (mrsteinberg.com, 2025-04-01). James Steinberg discusses the importance of networking in professional success, highlighting how talent and opportunity flourish within concentrated networks like Y Combinator, which nurtures startup growth and innovation

Podscan’s Profitability Milestone: What’s Next? (thebootstrappedfounder.com, 2025-04-04). Podscan reaches profitability after a year, utilizing AI tools and a well-documented system. Future goals include potential acquisition, increasing product value, and possibly expanding the team to support its growing database of podcasts

An Agency Machine (newsletter.rhizomerd.com, 2025-04-04). Kasey Klimes envisions an 'agency machine' software that amplifies human capabilities, akin to e-bikes enhancing riding experience, empowering freelancers, solopreneurs, and more to achieve ambitious goals through innovative tools

Forget VC: How Entrepreneurs Can Raise Money Beyond Venture Capital (medium.datadriveninvestor.com, 2025-04-07). Venture capital isn't suitable for all startups; consider alternatives like Angels, Family Offices, Grants, and Loans for funding. Understand strategies like SAFE and the importance of timing for strategic investments

Europe's fastest growing startup? (growthunhinged.com, 2025-04-02). Lovable, a Swedish AI coding startup, achieved $30M ARR in 4 months through continuous improvement of its AI tools and effective social media strategies, including viral marketing and community engagement via Product Hunt and LinkedIn

When Should Visual Design Precede Implementation? (tidyfirst.substack.com, 2025-04-04). The discussion explores the timing of visual design and implementation in product development, highlighting the role of tools like Augment Agent, and emphasizes the iterative nature of design and engineering processes

Should You Build Your Own Cloud? (systemsapproach.org, 2025-04-07). Building your own cloud can be an alternative to relying on large tech firms, especially at the network edge. Tools like Docker, Kubernetes (RKE2), Rancher, Terraform, and GitHub Actions are discussed in this context

You’ll Rebuild Everything Every Four Years Anyway (engineering.prezi.com, 2025-04-04). Explores the frequent need for software rebuilds, discussing frameworks like Angular, React, and Svelte, and emphasizes the importance of pragmatic architectural approaches, especially in managing technical debt and product features

The Reality of Tech Interviews in 2025 (newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com, 2025-04-01). Tech interviews in 2025 are evolving with a focus on AI roles, tougher hiring standards, and distinct processes for startups versus Big Tech, leading to a selective recovery from the previous hiring frenzy

The Biggest Mistake I Made as a Data Engineer (blog.det.life, 2025-04-01). Aline Rodrigues reflects on her experience building a data platform using Apache Airflow, Apache Spark, AWS Athena, and Apache Iceberg, highlighting the importance of prioritization, communication, and iterative development in overcoming challenges

9 Subjects I’ve Changed My Mind About as a Software Engineer (levelup.gitconnected.com, 2025-04-07). Cesar Aguirre shares his evolving perspectives on software engineering, including insights on databases, clean code, certifications, and the importance of interpersonal skills over merely being the best coder