Tech and startups: 29th July 2025

• Global funding reached $91 billion in Q2 2025 driven by AI investments, while June saw 20 new unicorns across AI and robotics, signaling a strong rebound in venture activity.

• Tech giants made strategic acquisitions with Amazon buying wearable AI startup Bee and Google testing Opal, a vibe-coding app for rapid web development.

• AI coding challenges revealed poor performance with only 7.5% correct answers in a new benchmark, highlighting gaps between AI capabilities and real-world coding needs.

• A new breed of lean, AI-powered unicorns is emerging led by solo founders using automation tools to create more agile and efficient startups.

• Major funding rounds included Ashby's $50M Series D for AI recruitment with OpenAI and Shopify as customers, and Armada's $131M for portable data centers targeting remote operations.

• NATO Innovation Fund refreshed its investment team amid increased momentum in defense tech, reflecting growing military spending and dual-use technology focus.

• AI is reshaping SaaS sales, making long-term contracts harder to secure as buyers demand rapid innovation and flexible solutions over traditional commitments.

• Alternative protein startups raised over $2 billion despite investor shifts away from alt-meat, with demand moving toward sustainable protein sources.

Automating Ad Generations with LLMs (medium​.com/thumbtack-engineering). Automating ad generation using Large Language Models (LLMs) enhances performance in Search Engine Marketing, enabling personalized, keyword-rich ads for improved traffic and conversions

Using Provocations to Shake the Status Quo (open​.nytimes​.com). NYT Cooking revamps recipe card design using design provocations to enhance visuals, user engagement, and streamline recipe evaluation processes

Vibe Coding, Investing in Creators, and Summer "Out East." (youngmoney​.co). Exploring vibe coding, investing in high-trust creators, a summer in the Hamptons, and innovative methods for private market transactions

The Decade of Data with Tomasz Tunguz (generalist​.com). Tomasz Tunguz discusses tokenized IPOs, AI, and data-driven venture capital strategies in the transformative landscape of modern finance and technology

Letter #289: Kris Fredrickson, Matt Jacobson, and Mark Goldberg (2020) (aletteraday​.substack​.com). Kris Fredrickson, Matt Jacobson, and Mark Goldberg discuss fundraising in the COVID-19 era, venture investment strategies, and evolving market dynamics

What I read in July (thatwastheweek​.com). Highlights from July include SpaceX's $400bn valuation, a funding push for Revolut, and challenges in seed venture capital amid changing economic trends

"Not everyone can become a great developer, but a great developer can come from anywhere" (birchtree​.me). Explores the role of AI coding tools in software development and emphasizes the importance of product knowledge and engineering practices for creating useful products

A RedMonk Conversation: How Shawn (swyx) Wang Defines the AI Engineer (redmonk​.com). Shawn Wang discusses the AI Engineer role, differences from traditional developers, creativity, non-human agents, and industry evolution with Kate Holterhoff

🔥 The first draft of my "Full-breadth Developers"… (justin​.searls​.co). Explores the concept of 'Full-breadth Developers' and critiques the notion of '100x engineers' in software development

How AI reshapes the craft of software engineering, with Yoav Tzfati (complexsystemspodcast​.com). Yoav Tzfati discusses vibe coding, AI models in software engineering, practical applications, training novices, and the future of coding practices with Patrick McKenzie

💭 How I Use Computers Now - YouTube (waylonwalker​.com). Waylon Walker explores personal computing with vibe coding, AI, and homelabs, lamenting the implications for traditional startup ideas

What Vibe Coding Actually Looks Like for a Senior Engineer (pmbanugo​.me). Senior engineer shares a 20-hour vibe coding experience building BreezeQ, leveraging AI tools like Gemini and Amp for research and code implementation

AI Has Flipped Software Development (lukew​.com). AI coding agents like Augment Code are revolutionizing software development, accelerating coding speeds and shifting design responsibilities to enhance UX and rapid iteration

Vibecoding a high-performance system (andrewkchan​.dev). Vibecoding web crawler using AI tools like Claude in under 24 hours, balancing automated coding with necessary reviews for high-performance system development

The Power of One (willem​.com). Exploration of staying a company of one to ensure quality work, with emphasis on direct partnerships and leveraging the Lemmid platform for efficiency

How I Bootstrapped a Simple Spreadsheet Into a Global Finance Tool Used in 40+ Countries (medium​.com/swlh). Stefan Neculai transformed a personal budgeting spreadsheet into FinancialAha, a finance tool empowering users in over 40 countries via Reddit and community feedback

30-day Micro-SaaS challenge: week three (stonesoup​.vision). Sean Tierney discusses insights from Mastra.ai, developing an AI vehicle finder, and adopting testing infrastructure in micro-SaaS during his 30-day challenge

An e-mail interview with Alex Blackie from Worktree (markpitblado​.me). Alex Blackie discusses entrepreneurship, Worktree's Canadian git hosting service, industry challenges, and the absence of competitive cloud platforms in Canada

How to Start a Tech Startup in 2025 (michaelcorey​.com). Tech startup success in 2025 involves identifying opportunities, raising venture capital, attracting talent, and navigating the 'valley of death,' shared by Michael Corey

How Stack Overflow is innovating to keep up with AI disruption (leaddev​.com). Stack Overflow innovates amid AI disruption using cross-functional teams, iterative product testing, and a focus on user outcomes to adapt to market needs

By And For Technologists (joinreboot​.org). Reboot aims to redefine techno-optimism by reshaping technology through agency and lived experiences, inviting contributions from diverse technologists, and boosting payment for pitches

Asking good questions for your product development (richstone​.io). Develop effective customer conversations and questions for product validation in APIs and developer marketing through insights from 'The Mom Test' and real-world experiences

Oversimplified: Volume 142 (conor​.substack​.com). Reflections on four years at Metabase, insights on OpenAI and AI market trends, principles for personal growth, and the impact of responsive communication

How to make your tech stack AI-friendly 📏 (refactoring​.fm). Explore AI-friendly tech stack design with Jamie Turner, emphasizing static typing, smart constraints, and the synergy between human and AI workflows

Full Roadmap: Become an AI PM in 2025 | Ankit Shukla, HelloPM Founder (news​.aakashg​.com). Ankit Shukla discusses pathways to become an AI PM by 2025, focusing on knowledge, roadmaps, and the AI PM spectrum with tools like ChatGPT

Speak's Andrew Hsu on the CTO's Role in AI Tooling Adoption (craftycto​.com). Andrew Hsu discusses the CTO's role in AI tooling adoption and fostering a culture of AI integration at Speak's engineering team

Complete Guide to Master The Vibe Coding PM Interview (newsletter​.pmcurve​.com). Deepak discusses vibe coding in PM interviews, emphasizing AI prototyping tools like Lovable and Replit, skills needed, and interview question categories

dev meets ai // proof of work (shorts​.growthx​.club). Exploring AI's proof of value for developers, organizational structures, skills needed, and project selection in the evolving Indian AI landscape

Impact of AI on Tech Content Creators (notes​.jim-nielsen​.com). AI's impact on tech content creators discussed by Chris Coyier, Tom MacWright, and others on topics like UI design, productivity, and advice in software development

Building better platforms with continuous discovery (stackoverflow​.blog). Implementing continuous discovery in platform engineering to enhance developer experience, reduce friction, and foster collaboration within teams at Stack Overflow

🎧🍌 Solving the Hardest Problems in Dev Tools | Jake Cooper, Founder of Railway (thespl​.it). Jake Cooper discusses Railway's growth, backend infrastructure challenges, AI's impact, and effective management strategies for developers

Building Remote Teams (yusufaytas​.com). Strategies for establishing remote teams, including team charters, hiring, navigating time zones, and the importance of decision-making and cultural considerations

Delivery vs Engineering (joeltok​.com). Explores the tension between software Delivery and Engineering, visualized in a quadrant chart featuring roles like Senior Engineers and Code Cowboys

Lessons under construction: My first client project by Hélène Sauvé (blog​.scottlogic​.com). Reflecting on a 9-month Fintech project, Hélène Sauvé shares insights on Angular, C#, Azure, Agile methodologies, and team collaborations

The Cost of Being Wrong (jack-vanlightly​.com). Nick Lebesis contrasts decisive startup founders with indecisive ones, exploring implications in software development, risk management, and the cost structures of mistakes

Over-engineered Side Projects have Utility (idiallo​.com). Over-engineered side projects like custom PHP blogs enhance technical skills through complex problem-solving, enabling learning beyond corporate CRUD frameworks

Convergence, mobile fragmentation, brain systems, and intentional debt 💡 (refactoring​.fm). Exploring intentional convergence in project management, the complexities of mobile fragmentation, brain systems theory, and the reality of intentional tech debt

My Circle of Competence (ordep​.dev). Exploring circles of competence, self-awareness, continuous learning, and decision-making for software engineers through technical insights and personal strategies

You Don't Need a Vendor to Automate Security Questionnaires (blog​.marcolancini​.it). Explore AI-driven automation options for security questionnaires, including DIY RAG solutions and using ChatGPT/Claude, bypassing expensive SaaS vendors

Written Narratives (bobek​.cz). Advocates for written narratives over presentations in organizations, emphasizing clear communication and documenting processes like RFCs and PRDs to enhance decision-making

Interfaces for representing uncertainty (digitalseams​.com). Exploring software interfaces that represent uncertainty through models, outcome distributions, and decision-making techniques like hedged requests and sketched annotations

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