The Quiet Crisis Many Entrepreneurs Face But Rarely Talk About
Entrepreneurship rewards independence and resilience; but over time, it can quietly isolate even the most successful founders.
Plaid valued at $8B in employee share sale
The new valuation is a 31% increase from $6.1 billion Plaid reached in April.
Others
Hauler Hero collects $16M for its AI waste management software
Hauler Hero has seen its customer base, revenue, and head count double since the company raised its seed round in 2024.
India orders social media platforms to take down deepfakes faster
India’s new rules take effect February 20, tightening deepfake oversight and shrinking takedown windows to as little as two hours.
Former GitHub CEO raises record $60M dev tool seed round at $300M valuation
Thomas Dohmke’s new startup offers an AI system to allow developers to better manage all the code AI agents produce.
Are Your Leadership Retreats Secretly Boring? Take These Simple Steps to Make Yours More Engaging
Too many leadership retreats miss the mark. Here’s how to design an offsite that truly engages leaders, sparks transformation and drives real business results.
Spotify hits a record 751M monthly users thanks to Wrapped, new free features
Spotify credited a successful Wrapped campaign and new features in its free tier for its rapid user growth
Primary Ventures raises healthy $625M Fund V to focus on seed investing
Primary Ventures has closed a $625 million fund focused on seed investing nationwide. It’s a sizeable accomplishment for a seed-stage VC firm.
Proptech startup Smart Bricks raises $5 million pre-seed led by a16z
Smart Bricks is an AI-powered proptech that helps investors find high-quality real estate investments
AI video startup Runway raises $315M at $5.3B valuation, eyes more capable world models
Startup Runway has raised a $315 million round at a $5.3 billion valuation, funds it will use to expand beyond AI video generation and into world models.
YouTube rolls out an AI playlist generator for Premium users
YouTube Music is rolling out a new AI-powered playlist-generation feature that allows Premium users on iOS and Android to use text prompts to create playlists.