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In partnership with
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In This Edition:
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$100 Amazon
Gift Card?
Shutterstock’s
Offering It
Now
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Get a $100
Amazon gift card
from
Shutterstock
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Access to
high-quality
training data is a
key differentiator
in building
accurate and
scalable AI
models. Shutterstock
is enabling AI
teams with
enterprise-grade,
fully
rights-cleared
multimodal
datasets.
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Qualified AI
decision-makers
receive a $100 Amazon
gift card
for joining a
30-minute
discovery
call.
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Schedule your
call and unlock
the full
potential of
premium AI
training data.
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Fine tuning your
AI models? Use
data you can
trust.
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Training AI?
Let’s talk. If you're
actively building
or fine-tuning AI
models, Shutterstock
offers
enterprise-grade
training data
across images,
video, 3D, audio,
and more—fully
rights-cleared and
enriched with 20+
years of
human-reviewed
metadata.
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Our 600M+ asset
library powers
faster iteration,
simplified
procurement, and
improved model
accuracy.
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We’re offering a $100 Amazon
gift card
to qualified AI
decision-makers
who join a
30-minute
discovery
call
with our team.
We’ll walk you
through how our
multimodal
datasets, flexible
licensing, and
premium metadata
can help de-risk
development and
accelerate time to
deployment.
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Book a
call
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For complete
terms and
conditions, see
the offer
page.
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19 VC Secrets
Most Founders
Don’t Know
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Understanding how
venture
capitalists source
deals is critical
to positioning a
startup for
funding. This
concise guide
breaks down 19 real-world
sourcing
channels—from warm intros
and scouting
networks to niche
online communities
and data-driven
tools.
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Key
Takeaways:
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Warm intros
remain the
highest-converting
channel
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Proactive,
thesis-driven
searches are
gaining
traction
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VCs now tap
into AI
tools and
Slack groups
for
discovery
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University
spinouts and
operator
referrals
carry
weight
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Download
the full
eBook
to explore all 19
sourcing methods
and how founders
can align with
them
strategically.
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10 Proven
Ways to Fund
Your Startup
Without VCs
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10 Funding
Secrets VCs
Don’t Want You
to Know
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Raising capital
does not always
require giving up
equity or control.
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From
revenue-based
financing to
community capital,
founders today
have multiple
viable
alternatives to
traditional VC
funding.
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Each option
offers distinct
advantages, risk
profiles, and
suitability
depending on
business model and
stage. Explore
strategies that
can fuel growth
while preserving
ownership.
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Download the
complete eBook
for actionable
funding
insights.
️
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10 Proven
Ways to Fund
Your Startup
Without VC
41.14 MB •
PDF File
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Download
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Startups
Buzz
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From Layoff to
Launch: Founders
Turning Setbacks
into Startups
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Nearly half of
surveyed tech
professionals
(48%) report that
layoffs spurred
their decision to
start a
business—many
launching within
just three months.
The most common
initial funding
sources: family,
friends, and
severance. 45% now
pay themselves
more than their
previous job,
despite challenges
like cash flow,
time constraints,
and marketing.
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Click
through
for deeper
data,
founder
insights,
and
actionable
startup
lessons.
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⚠️ The Dark Side
of Venture
Capital: When a
Win Isn’t a
Win
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Behind glossy
headlines, many
founders exit
their startups
with empty
pockets. Investor
payback order,
venture debt
covenants, and
brutal VC math
leave little for
those who built
the business.
Protecting equity
and avoiding
unnecessary debt
can be the
difference between
profit and
loss.
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Click for
the full
story on
how to
protect
yourself
before
taking VC
money.
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Rise of
Alternative
Funding Models –
Why More
Founders Are
Skipping VC
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Venture capital
isn’t as glamorous
as it appears.
Many firms lack
structured
support, making
trust and
relationships far
more critical than
flashy pitch
decks.
Increasingly,
founders are
opting for leaner
capital
paths—angels, LPs,
grants, or
bootstrapping—that
offer autonomy and
avoid misaligned
incentives.
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Explore
the full
post to
understand
why VC may
not be the
best
fit—and
which
alternatives
empower
sustainable
growth.
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AI Features
Driving 10×
Engagement –
Real-World
Success Stories
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Enterprise brands
like Yum (Taco
Bell, KFC) and NAB
have integrated
AI-powered
personalization
and
reinforcement‑learning
marketing, leading
to double‑digit
increases in
customer
engagement and
significant
reductions in
churn. Highlighted
use cases also
include AI
chatbots, virtual
assistants, and
recommendation
systems that
enhance CX and
productivity
across
industries.
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Discover
the full
case
studies
and
actionable
tactics
behind
these
AI‑driven
growth
wins.
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Free to Paid:
Why Freemium
Isn’t Always the
Smart Choice
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Conversion from
free to paid
remains the "penny
gap" challenge:
average SaaS
conversion rates
hover around 1–3%,
with standouts
like Slack
reaching 30%.
Freemium models
demand feature
limits and trigger
events that
clearly show the
value of
upgrading—or risk
slowing growth and
creating
churn.
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Click to
explore
case
studies
and learn
when
freemium
works—and
when it
becomes a
liability.
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AI‑First
Product Launches
That Raised
Millions – What
They Got
Right
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Paris-based
startup H
secured an
unprecedented
~$220 million in
funding before
debuting its first
product, Runner H, based on a
lightweight,
2‑billion‑parameter
proprietary LLM
built for agentic
applications like
RPA, QA, and BPO.
Early access is
free, with APIs
and a developer
platform coming
soon—all shaping a
high‑impact,
capital‑efficient
model for AI‑first
product
launches.
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Click to
dive into
the full
case study
and see
why
compact AI
and early
traction
drove
investor
confidence.
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