🕶️ TikTok’s New Challenger & Fintech’s New Hero

Six bullets of updates

1. 🤖 OpenAI unveils "Operator" AI, capable of autonomously shopping online and booking reservations with ease.

2. 💰 Madrona raises $770M, its largest fund yet, to fuel AI and infrastructure startups amidst a 'risk-on' mindset.

3. 📸 Instagram’s new “Activity Insights” feature reveals your in-app habits, from hours spent scrolling to your most-viewed accounts—possibly exposing some guilty pleasures.

4. 💼 Your first job isn't just a paycheck; it's a foundation for future entrepreneurial success and networking.

5. 📱 Meta glitches leave users auto-following President Trump and VP Vance, sparking confusion about platform practices.

6. 📚 AI aces all exams: Humanity's Last Exam emerges as the toughest yet, challenging AI's rapid progress.

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The 7 Qualities Every Founder Needs (and No, Hustling Isn’t Enough)

After 100+ investments, one seasoned investor has boiled down the recipe for standout founders into seven key traits. Spoiler alert: it’s not just about having a killer pitch deck or burning the midnight oil. It’s about qualities like resilience, authenticity, and adaptability—traits that show a founder can weather the inevitable chaos of startup life.

Resilience? That’s what gets you through the “we need more runway” conversations. Adaptability? It’s what helps you pivot when your “game-changing” idea isn’t actually all that game-changing. And let’s not forget urgency—because, let’s face it, no one’s going to wait around while you perfect your prototype.

The takeaway? Investors are looking for people who inspire confidence and can roll with the punches—not just those who can rattle off buzzwords like “synergy.” So, next time you’re pitching, maybe leave the over-polished speeches at the door and show some real grit. It might just be your ticket to the next big round (or at least a little more respect in those Zoom meetings).

Speaking of lessons learned, we put together a video on how we’d build a startup from scratch if we had the chance to do it all over again. 📺️ 

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. Contech Hackathon: Build Day | Today! | NYC

2. CTO Talks. | January 30 | NYC

3. Entrepreneur First Bangalore - Core | Deadline: Feb 11 | India

4. Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator | Deadline: Feb 11 | NYC

5. Techstars New York City Accelerator | Deadline: Feb 11 | NYC

6. Y Combinator | Deadline: Feb 11 | Silicon Valley

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These companies just raised money

1. 🚴 Tom Brady's Autograph merges with Future, bringing celeb power to digital fitness; Future valued at $275M.

2.  💊 Allara raises $26M Series B to expand telehealth for women's hormone care, targeting average patients aged 30.

3. 🔒 Passbolt raises $8M to enhance its open-source password manager, with 38,000 teams already onboard.

4. 🚀 Spaceium, a space refueling startup, secures $6.3M seed round to build a cosmic superhighway for spacecraft.

5. 🏡 Landy Liu's startup, Foyer, raises $6.2M to revolutionize homebuying savings for over 10,000 new users.

6. Brooke Hopkins, a former tech lead at Waymo, has launched Coval, a platform to evaluate AI agents like self-driving cars, securing a $3.3M seed round led by MaC Venture Capital.

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Startups Shaking Up E-Commerce and Fintech

In the ever-evolving startup world, some companies aren’t just riding the wave—they’re making it. This week, we’re spotlighting two standout startups revolutionizing their industries: one is transforming how creators earn, and the other is redefining loan repayments.

💡 Flip’s $100M Creator Fund: Flip, an e-commerce platform blending social engagement with shopping, has launched a groundbreaking $100 million creator fund. This initiative offers influencers equity in the company, incentivizing them to create high-quality content while building long-term partnerships. With TikTok Shop as a clear rival, Flip’s innovative approach could reshape the influencer economy by aligning creators’ success with the platform’s growth.

💳 Method Simplifies Loan Repayments: On the fintech front, Method is teaming up with companies like SoFi to embed repayment functionalities directly into their apps. This integration streamlines the repayment process, allowing users to manage loans without switching platforms. By enhancing convenience and user experience, Method is setting a new standard for fintech solutions and paving the way for more seamless financial ecosystems.

Who’s next to shake things up?

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How to Scale a Startup Team

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