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A newsletter for communities, investors, angels, and founders
Power in Numbers
November 07, 2025
Welcome to PIN’d - our weekly newsletter where we pin (lol, bear with us) the most important tech/startup news of the week for aspiring angels, vc’s, startup investors, founders, etc. Expect a new weekly roundup from us every Friday morning!
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📰 This week’s best news
Sequoia Capital has appointed Alfred Lin and Pat Grady as its new co-stewards, following Roelof Botha’s decision to step down after three years leading the firm. The leadership change comes as Sequoia looks to move past a turbulent period marked by portfolio write-downs, internal controversy, and global restructuring.
OpenAI has agreed to pay Amazon $38 billion for computing power in a multiyear deal that marks their first partnership. The pact will let OpenAI train new models and process ChatGPT queries using Amazon’s data centers and Nvidia chips. For Amazon, it’s a key move to boost AWS growth and catch up to Microsoft and Google in the race for AI cloud dominance.
Andreessen Horowitz has paused its Talent x Opportunity (TxO) program, which supported founders without access to traditional venture networks. Launched in 2020 to back women and minority entrepreneurs, the fund helped more than 60 companies with training and seed investments. a16z says it’s rethinking how to support diverse founders as it integrates the effort into its broader early-stage strategy.
Vulcan Elements and ReElement Technologies have struck a $1.4 billion partnership with the U.S. government to expand domestic rare earth magnet production. The deal includes loans and equity from the Commerce Department and Pentagon to strengthen supply chains critical to defense and tech manufacturing. The companies plan to build a 10,000-ton magnet facility powered by recycled materials and U.S.-sourced rare earths, marking a major step in reducing dependence on China.
While Roy Lee, the founder of Cluely, argues that startups should be thinking harder about social media virality, he also admits that brand awareness alone won’t lead to sustained growth. “I can’t say if it’s a mistake, but maybe we launched too early,” Lee said onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 last week. “The whole idea [was] let’s launch something that barely works, and if we can get enough initial users, they will find out the use cases for us.”
Tesla shareholders have overwhelmingly approved a compensation package for CEO Elon Musk that could be worth as much as $1 trillion in company shares. More than 75% of shareholders who participated voted to approve the plan, in line with the amount of support Musk has received for past pay packages. As the result was announced, shareholders in the room at Tesla’s Austin, Texas, factory began chanting: “Elon! Elon!”
💰 Funding announcement highlights
Liquid, a New York company that aggregates decentralized perpetual-futures exchanges into one noncustodial app, raised a $7.6 million seed round. Paradigm was the main investor, with General Catalyst also contributing.
Popai, a startup that turns patient phone calls into structured data for healthcare providers, raised an $11 million round. Team8 and New Enterprise Associates co-led the deal.
Archy, a startup that provides an AI-powered practice management system for dental offices, raised a $20 million Series B. TCV led the round, with Bessemer Venture Partners, CRV, and Entrée Capital also joining.
Teleskope, a startup that identifies sensitive data across cloud and SaaS systems and automatically applies security controls, raised a $25 million Series A round. The deal was led by M13, with Primary Venture Partners and Lerer Hippeau also showing up.
Daylight, a startup providing an autonomous managed detection and response cybersecurity platform, raised a $33 million Series A round. Craft Ventures was the main investor, with Bain Capital Ventures and Maple VC also contributing.
📚 Interesting reads of the week
Alphabet’s X lab is changing how it brings its boldest ideas to market. Instead of keeping projects under the Alphabet umbrella, it’s spinning them out as independent startups backed by a new $500 million fund called Series X Capital. The move gives X teams more speed, freedom, and financial upside while keeping close strategic ties.
Palantir is challenging the traditional college path with a new fellowship that recruits students straight out of high school. The program gives 22 teens full-time roles and a monthlong seminar on Western civilization instead of a degree requirement. The company argues that merit and curiosity matter more than credentials. For its young recruits, it’s a chance to skip tuition and start building real-world experience early.
Big Tech is growing faster than ever, but not by hiring more people. MBI Deep Dives shows how companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet are adding hundreds of billions in revenue with shrinking headcount. AI is accelerating this trend, making each new dollar of output less tied to human labor. The result: a widening gap between capital efficiency and employment, reshaping how the global economy grows.
After years of near-free capital, founders are now facing the toughest funding climate in a decade. Inflation pushed the Fed to raise rates above 5%, and investors have shifted from chasing growth to demanding clear profitability. Startups are adapting by cutting costs, delaying fundraising, and exploring creative financing. The message is clear: resilience and financial discipline are the new growth hacks.
This sharp essay dissects how exhaustion became a modern badge of honor. Busyness has replaced faith, turning productivity into a socially approved addiction and rest into rebellion. Witty, raw, and self-aware, this piece exposes how we mistake motion for meaning and why stillness might be the last true luxury.
📌 PinPoint - Weekly Startup Job Opportunities
Whatnot is hiring a Data Scientist, Growth Marketing.
Sweatpals is hiring a Marketing Manager, Brand & Social.
FleetWorks is hiring a Senior Software Engineer - AI Agents.
Viven hiring a Product Marketing Manager.
Flow Engineering is hiring a Sales Engineer
You can earn thousands of dollars for referring candidates to top companies. Sign up to PinPoint.
📌 PIN tweet of the week
What if the next unicorn doesn’t have a team?
A decade ago, building a billion-dollar company meant hundreds of employees, layers of management, and massive funding rounds.
Now? One person with a laptop could be next.
Research by Palle Broe highlights 15 one-person companies
— PIN (@getpinxyz)
12:40 PM • Nov 3, 2025
💼 Who’s hiring in VC?
Looking to get into VC? Below are this week’s curated VC job openings.
DCG is looking for a VC Analyst.
Wisconsin Foundation is looking for a VC Director.
Unity Growth is looking for a VC Partner.
VC Lab is looking for a VC Associate.
Samsara is looking for a VC Director.
📠 Fun fact of the week
Top VC firms by amount raised:
Tiger Global Management: $69.5 billion AUM.
Sequoia Capital: $60 billion AUM.
Legend Capital: $48.1 billion AUM.
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): $46 billion AUM.
New Enterprise Associates (NEA): $28 billion AUM.
