Tech and startups: 1st July 2025

• Ultra-unicorns valued at $5B+ are dominating private markets in 2025, with companies like OpenAI and Thinking Machines leading the pack amid fluctuating funding trends.

• Major funding rounds include Kalshi raising $185M for prediction markets, Raphe mPhibr securing $100M for military drones, and Metaview raising $35M to automate recruitment workflows.

• Significant AI acquisitions are reshaping the landscape as Meta seeks to acquire voice cloning startup Play AI, OpenAI hires the team behind AI recommendation startup Crossing Minds, and legal software company Clio drops $1B on law data giant vLex.

• Andy Konwinski, co-founder of Databricks and Perplexity AI, launches a $100M research institute focused on beneficial AI, funding projects like Slingshots and Moonshots alongside leading researchers.

• Gaming startup funding continues to decline in 2025 with only $627 million raised, as prominent gaming companies thrive in M&A and public markets instead.

• AI-powered startup studio Audos plans to launch 100,000 companies annually, leveraging AI tools to help non-technical entrepreneurs build businesses at unprecedented scale.

• European startups are increasingly planning for international expansion from inception, overcoming local market comfort zones to pursue global ambitions from day one.

• Redwood Materials launches energy storage business targeting AI data centers, repurposing retired EV batteries to power data centers in collaboration with companies like Crusoe.

Hijacking Amazon EventBridge for launching Cross-Account attacks (developer​.squareup​.com). AWS EventBridge cross-account configurations pose security risks, enabling attackers to infiltrate, exfiltrate data and exploit legitimate service features

False Fences Make Bad Neighbors (engineering​.gusto​.com). Explores the principle of Chesterton's Fence in software engineering, caution against redundant code, and the concept of False Fences leading to production bugs

Boosting Developer Productivity with AI: Faster Dashboards, Automated Testing, and 70% Less Setup Time (engineering​.salesforce​.com). Salesforce enhances developer productivity with AI tools like Code Builder, automated testing, and warm pool optimization, achieving a 70% reduction in setup time

From pair to peer programmer: Our vision for agentic workflows in GitHub Copilot (github​.blog). GitHub Copilot evolves from an assistant to a peer programmer with independent AI agents, enhancing developer workflows through multi-step reasoning and collaboration

Inside the growth of the top AI companies on Stripe (stripe​.com). AI companies are rapidly scaling, with Stripe supporting their growth; ElevenLabs valued at $3B in 2.5 years, Cursor at $100M ARR in 3 years

Better Auth, by a self-taught Ethiopian dev, raises $5M from Peak XV, YC (techcrunch​.com). Better Auth, an open-source authentication tool by Ethiopian developer Bereket Engida, raises $5M from Peak XV and YC, tackling user management challenges

Meme-company (benn​.substack​.com). Exploring the rise of meme-driven companies, AI in software engineering, and the balance between taste, marketing, and product development in the tech landscape

Meeting founders in London (petecodes​.io). Exploring Ramen Space coworking, IndieBeers meetup, and insightful conversations with founders about startup challenges and opportunities in London

Clouded Judgement 6.27.25 - New Rules For a New Game (cloudedjudgement​.substack​.com). Founders must adapt to the AI-driven market by prioritizing speed, iteration, and fresh talent, challenging old SaaS startup strategies for rapid success

Startup life: one small fix = Big trust + Downloads [week 19] (medium​.com/@bettercalljohn). Talanoa's week 19 update: Windows certificate approval, collaboration with a copywriter, analytics improvements, and Linux builds on Flathub

When the CTO Asks You to Use Autocomplete (idiallo​.com). CTOs should focus on code quality over prescribed tools like autocomplete; developers thrive on problem-solving with varied workflows and tool preferences

How to Ace Engineering Manager Interviews (newsletter​.eng-leadership​.com). Master engineering manager interviews with insights from Alexander Kliotzkin and essentials like leadership, emotional intelligence, and systematic problem-solving for successful outcomes

When a PM takes over engineering (newsletter​.manager​.dev). João Ramos shares insights on bridging gaps between engineering and product management, emphasizing empathy, user engagement, and continuous improvement in tech projects

Staff Engineer vs Engineering Manager: What Path Fits You? (flyingwhilebuilding​.com). Explore the critical decision between becoming a Staff Engineer or an Engineering Manager, focusing on technical expertise vs. people leadership

Something New (roguelazer​.com). Developer reflects on leaving Instrumentl after 990 days, highlights contributions in Ruby on Rails, and anticipates new role at Svix writing in Rust

✔️ Online Recruitment: What You Didn’t Know About Hiring Remotely (michael​.team). Insights on remote hiring, focusing on self-discipline, communication skills, and the unique integration challenges of fully remote companies like Nozbe

principal-engineer-at-meta (waylonwalker​.com). Jake Bolam shares career insights for engineers at Meta, focusing on onboarding, communication, taking risks, and the value of writing in tech roles

From Zero to Bestseller in 2 Months: Here’s What You Didn’t See (journal​.optivem​.com). Valentina Jemuović shares insights on transitioning from LinkedIn to Substack, discovering target readers, and converting coaching experience into a successful newsletter

Whisperglass (jmduke​.com). Development of Whisperglass, a SaaS project built with Django, utilizing PostgreSQL and Tailwind, focused on open-source applications and programming efficiency

Software ownership, removing controls, and tech simplification 💡 (refactoring​.fm). Exploring AI coding, software ownership, control removal, and tech simplification with insights from Netflix and key concepts for engineering teams

The new AI wave, Rails Builders III and Mom Test reading group (richstone​.io). Updates on agentic coding with Claude Code, Rails Builders III for SaaS development, and The Mom Test async book club for improving customer conversations

Base44: A Brutally Simple Alternative to Lovable (productcompass​.pm). Base44 offers a simpler, no-code alternative to Lovable for building full-stack apps quickly, featuring integrated databases, Google authentication, and easy permissions management

New bookshelves are 90% done + updates on user testing the full reader app. (build​.shepherd​.com). New bookshelves are nearing completion, while insights from user testing of the full reader app continue to shape development at Shepherd.com

AI coding tools are perhaps our new terminal emulators (ghuntley​.com). AI coding tools, like Claude Code and Amp, are transforming programming practices, allowing engineers to automate tasks with prompts rather than traditional command-line methods

Software engineering with LLMs in 2025: reality check (newsletter​.pragmaticengineer​.com). Insights on AI tools usage in software engineering from Anthropic, Google, Amazon, and startup developers, highlighting successes and challenges

How to get the most out of AI tooling (leaddev​.com). Engineering leaders discuss maximizing AI tooling with strategies, tools, and team dynamics across companies like GitHub, Spotify, and GitLab

The Anti-Metrics Era of Developer Productivity (aviator​.co). Explores anti-metrics for developer productivity, emphasizing automated workflows, collaboration with AI, and essential practices like continuous delivery and trunk-based development

Software Is Changing (Again) (karecha​.com). Andrej Karpathy discusses AI-assisted programming, the evolution of software development, and the importance of foundational coding skills for newcomers

Encouraging the use of LLMs made interviews easier (for us as interviewers) (danieltan​.weblog​.lol). LLMs streamline engineering intern interviews, focusing on candidates' interaction with AI tools and problem-solving under stress, enhancing assessment accuracy

You're doing quarterly planning wrong (newsletter​.posthog​.com). Quarterly planning tips from PostHog, emphasizing asynchronous preparation, goal flexibility, avoiding metrics obsession, and fostering engineering ownership for successful product shipping

The Never Rewrite Podcast, Episode One Hundred Ten: MVPs, YAGNI, and the Goldilocks Problem (shermanonsoftware​.com). Exploring MVPs, YAGNI, and the Goldilocks Problem in software development with Isaac and Dustin, discussing tradeoffs between simplicity and scalability

Four lessons for product teams from Optimizely’s Chief Product Officer (fullstory​.com). Rupali Jain shares four lessons on innovation, AI in experimentation, prioritization, and risk-taking for product teams at Optimizely

Stop Measuring the Wrong Things: The Real Markers of High-Performing Teams (businessasusual​.io). Identify high-performing teams by focusing on outcomes, removing dependencies, creating visibility, and tailoring metrics to foster accountability and enhance value delivery

Evolving Nubank’s Architecture Toward Thoughtful Platformization (building​.nubank​.com). Nubank's evolution includes platformization, standardization with Clojure, career paths for engineers, and a culture promoting learning, collaboration, and diversity

Finding Balance: Building Scalable Systems While Paying the Bills (eric​.mann​.blog). Engineering leaders balance scalable systems and revenue generation, focusing on tactical compromises, iterative learning, and aligning engineering efforts with business needs

Going From Zero to Implementation: Growing Software and Getting Things off the Ground (bytefish​.de). Overview of the chaotic, iterative software development process; from initial idea to implementation, emphasizing collaboration and prototyping methods

Software craftsmanship (proofofconcept​.pub). Exploration of evolving roles in tech, blending Engineering, Product, and Design with AI tools, while emphasizing craftsmanship over escalation of tasks

2 - Agile That Doesn’t Suck (thecynical​.dev). Rebuilding Agile through practical changes: stop Agile theater, improve code, strengthen product ownership, and foster small, autonomous teams for better software delivery

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