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In This Edition:
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STARTUPS
GROUNDSWELL
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Are You Losing
Control of Your
Startup at the
Growth Stage?
Here's How to
Take It Back
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Gif by
InvestEurope
on
Giphy
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As your
startup
scales, have
you ever felt
like you’re
losing touch
with what’s
really
happening in
your company?
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In a recent
podcast featuring
YC's Dalton
Caldwell and
Michael Seibel,
they discuss
exactly this
challenge, drawing
from their
experience with late-stage
founders.
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They highlight
how, as teams grow
and layers of
management take
over, founders
often feel
disconnected from
the core of their
business. But the
good news, as
explored in the
podcast, is that
you can fix it—and
stay connected to
the heart of your
company.
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Key
Insights:
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The
Growing
Disconnect: As
startups
scale,
founders
often feel
removed from
daily
operations
due to added
management
layers and
executives,
leading to a
loss of
direct
insight into
the
business.
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️
Bureaucracy
Creep: Over
time,
organizational
rules and
approvals
pile up,
slowing
decision-making
and pushing
important
tasks like
customer
engagement
and product
improvements
down the
priority
list.
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⚠️ Danger
of
Sidelining
Founders: Some
founders,
like
Airbnb’s
Brian
Chesky, have
experienced
being
sidelined in
their own
companies,
even being
excluded
from
critical
meetings by
the
bureaucracy
they helped
create.
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Effective
Solutions: Founders
must find
strategies
to stay
connected.
One powerful
approach is
direct
engagement—where
founders and
executives
regularly
meet with
front-line
employees to
gain real
insight into
problems.
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Taking
Ownership: Founders
must
acknowledge
that it’s
their
responsibility
when things
go wrong.
Owning
mistakes and
driving
change are
key to
regaining
control over
the
direction of
the
company.
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What
Founder
Mode
Really
Means
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Why This is
Important:
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As your startup
grows, it’s easy
to get lost in the
process and let
others take over.
But if you don’t
actively manage
the complexity,
your vision and
connection to the
company will fade,
leading to
misalignment and
slower
decision-making.
Founders who take
ownership, cut
through
bureaucracy, and
stay close to the
details are more
likely to sustain
long-term
success.
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If you're
navigating the
challenges of
scaling your
business, don’t
let bureaucracy
stand in the way
of your vision.
Stay connected,
stay engaged, and
stay in control.
Start by cutting
through the layers
and getting back
to what
matters—your
product and your
customers. Ready
to take back your
company? Let's
start that
conversation
now.
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AI TOOLS
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The AI Video
Tools That Will
Change
Everything!
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Luma
Dream
Machine: Turn
text/images
into
videos.
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Lumen5: Create
videos
easily with
AI.
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️ DeepBrain
AI: Convert
text to
realistic
speech.
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Genmo: Create
interactive
generative
art.
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Kaiber: Generate
videos using
text/images.
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Viggle: Animate
photos into
dance
videos.
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Wonder
Studio: Animate
CG
characters
seamlessly.
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⏳ MagicTime: Generate
realistic
time-lapse
videos.
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Eggnog: Create
videos with
customizable
characters.
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-
What
Happens When
AI Meets
Creativity?
Discover the
Future of
Art &
Tech (Link)
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The
Surprising
Way a
Startup
Stood Out in
a Crowded
Market (Link)
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Are You
Making These
Common
Startup
Pivot
Mistakes? (Link)
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andrew
chen
@andrewchen
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unfortunate
startup
pivots.
a
short
list.
recently
I've
been
working
with
startups
via
SPEEDRUN,
our
program
to
invest
$750k
each
into
preseed/seed
startups
(btw,
13
more
days
to
apply
to
SR4
in
SF!)
and
the
topic
of
pivoting
often
comes
up.
Some
thoughts
on
what
doesn't
work:…
x.com/i/web/status/1…
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7:51
PM
•
Sep
17,
2024
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650
Likes
46
Retweets
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30
Replies
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To
Dominate
the
AI
Race,
Don’t
“Start”a
Company
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LiveKit,
Russ
d'Sa
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What Do 90%
of Startups
Fail to
Realize? Key
Stats Every
Founder Must
Know (Link)
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Why Every
Startup
Needs a
Moat:
Defending
Your Idea
from
Imitators (Link)
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What
Happens When
a Startup
Grows Too
Fast? Inside
Faire’s
Hard-Earned
Lessons (Link)
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Can Niche
Marketplaces
Really
Capture 67%
of
Consumers’
Trust?
Here’s Why
They’re So
Effective (Link)
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Can You
Avoid These
Common
Pitfalls?
Top
Entrepreneurs
Share Their
Hard-Learned
Lessons (Link)
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-
Fei-Fei Li
Unveils the
Next
Frontier:
The Future
of AI Is
Here (Link)
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Microsoft's
Approach to
Fixing AI
Hallucinations
Faces Expert
Skepticism (Link)
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Meta
Chooses to
Reject EU’s
Voluntary AI
Safety
Pledge:
What’s
Behind the
Decision (Link)
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OpenAI
Introduces
Advanced
Voice Mode
with New
Voices and
Sleek
Interface (Link)
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How Are
Hackers
Using
ChatGPT’s
False
Memories for
Persistent
Attacks? (Link)
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Sam
Altman’s
'God Mode'
Post Signals
a New
Chapter for
AI
Leadership (Link)
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Google CEO
Sundar
Pichai
Launches
$120M Fund
for AI
Education
Across the
Globe (Link)
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How AI
Agents Will
Transform
the Future
of Work:
Dharmesh
Shah's
Vision (Link)
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ChatGPT's
Math
Problem: Why
AI Chatbots
Still Can't
Master
Mathematics (Link)
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AI AGENT
INSIGHTS
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Are You Ready
for AI Agents to
Transform Your
Business?
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The
Future
Of
AI
Agents
With
Dharmesh
Shah
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INBOUND
2024
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At INBOUND 2024, Dharmesh Shah,
founder of HubSpot, took the stage
to share the
exciting future of
AI agents and how
they will change
the way businesses
operate. He didn’t
just talk about
the technology—he
showed how
startups,
solopreneurs, and
businesses of all
sizes can tap into
AI’s potential to
boost
productivity, save
time, and scale
smarter.
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From AI-powered
tools that
optimize your
website to agents
that act as
virtual team
members, the world
of AI is evolving
faster than
ever.
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Key
Insights:
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The Year
of AI
Agents: 2024 is
being hailed
as the year
AI agents
come into
their own.
These tools
will handle
multi-step
tasks for
users,
becoming
essential
parts of
business
operations.
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AI Agents
for
Everyday
Business
Needs: From
marketing to
sales and
customer
service, AI
agents are
no longer
futuristic
ideas.
HubSpot’s
platform,
Agent.AI,
already
offers
practical
agents that
can improve
conversions,
conduct
company
research,
and create
executive
briefings in
seconds.
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️ Building
AI Agents
Made
Simple: You don’t
need to be a
coder to
build your
own AI
agent. HubSpot’s
Agent
Builder
allows
anyone to
create
agents using
simple
drag-and-drop
features,
connecting
to powerful
AI models
like GPT and
Claude.
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AI Models
are
Growing
Fast: AI models
are rapidly
evolving,
with newer
models
doubling in
capabilities
every six
months.
They’re now
multimodal,
meaning they
can handle
text,
images,
audio, and
video.
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✨
AI
Enhances
Human
Potential: Despite
fears about
AI replacing
humans,
Dharmesh
emphasized
that AI
agents
amplify what
makes us
valuable—our
creativity,
insights,
and
experiences.
AI will
handle the
routine,
while humans
focus on the
magic.
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Why This is
Important:
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For startups and
solopreneurs,
staying
competitive means
embracing tools
that save time and
increase
efficiency. AI
agents can help
businesses scale
without the need
for a large
workforce,
enabling
entrepreneurs to
focus on growth,
creativity, and
strategy. As AI
becomes more
accessible, those
who leverage it
early will have a
significant
advantage in the
market.
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Ready to take
your business to
the next level
with AI?
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Explore HubSpot’s Agent.AI
and see how AI
agents can
streamline your
daily tasks and
boost efficiency.
Start building
your own agents
effortlessly—no
coding required.
Your next big
breakthrough is
just a click
away.
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Stay ahead of the
game with the
latest AI agent
updates, practical
tips, and insights
from industry
leaders by
subscribing to the Simple.ai
newsletter.
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️ RECOMMENDATION
️
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