PIN

A newsletter for communities, investors, angels, and founders

Author

Power in Numbers
January 10, 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

Chinese venture capitalists are taking aggressive measures against founders of failed startups. They are using "redemption rights" to demand personal assets and list them on a national debtor blacklist. These agreements, common in over 80% of deals, require founders or companies to buy back investors' shares with added interest if they don’t meet certain goals.

South Park Commons is raising $40M for an India-specific fund

South Park Commons, a Silicon Valley collective founded by Facebook’s first female engineer Ruchi Sanghvi, is raising a $40 million India-specific fund, marking its expansion into South Asia. They will be focusing on the “-1 to 0” stage, supporting early-stage entrepreneurs with unique programs like Founder Fellowship, which provides up to $1 million in funding.

The IPO market might bounce back in 2025, with companies like Cerebras Systems, Stripe, and Canva preparing to go public. Sectors such as AI, fintech, and biotech are attracting investors, and firms like SymphonyAI and Klarna are getting ready for IPOs. If conditions improve, 2025 could be a key year for these startups.

Anthropic, a key competitor to OpenAI, is reportedly raising $2 billion, in a founding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, boosting its valuation to $60 billion. This follows its $4 billion funding from Amazon, which has invested $8 billion in total as it strengthens its position in generative AI.

Ann Altman, sister of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has filed a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by her brother between 1997 and 2006, claiming severe emotional distress. Sam Altman denies the allegations, supported by a family statement citing her mental health struggles.

Venture capital funding in emerging markets like MENA fell by 41% in 2024, with deal activity also dropping 20%. Despite the downturn, early-stage investments surged in MENA, with 47% of deals ranging from $1 million to $5 million. Fintech dominated, securing $3.9 billion region-wide. Experts predict a recovery in 2025 as interest rates decline and investor confidence grows, particularly in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

Mark Zuckerberg announced changes to Meta’s content moderation policies, ending its fact-checking program in favor of a community-driven system like X’s Community Notes. Meta will also loosen restrictions on political content and focus moderation efforts on severe violations like terrorism and child exploitation.

💰 Funding announcement highlights

General Proximity, a startup developing new medicines targeting diseases such as cancer, heart conditions, and neurodegenerative disorders, raised a $16 million seed round led by Felicis, age1, Modi Ventures, and Wilson Sonsini as well as previous investor Y Combinator, also contributed.

StruxHub, a startup helping construction companies manage tasks like scheduling, deliveries, and work permits, raised a $4 million seed round. Brick and Mortar Ventures led the deal which also included FJ Labs and Holcim.

Addepar, a company co-founded by 8VC's Joe Lonsdale that provides a software platform for wealth management firms, offering tools for managing investments, generating reports, and analyzing portfolios, is planning to raise $250 million at a $3.25 billion valuation. 8VC, Valor Equity Partners, and WestCap are part of the investors interested in the deal.

Torch Dental, a startup helping dental practices manage, order, and budget for supplies and equipment, raised a $17 million round. Investors included Amex Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and Parameter Ventures as well as previous backers Raga Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Health Velocity Capital.

Fazeshift, a startup automating accounts receivable processes, including invoicing, payment matching, and collections, raised a $4 million seed round. Gradient Ventures, Y Combinator, Wayfinder, Pioneer Fund, Ritual Capital, and Phoenix Fund were all part of the round.

 📚 Interesting reads of the week

Metrics can be misleading, creating "precise blindness" by encouraging optimization over understanding. Companies like Basecamp and Notion are thriving by reducing reliance on traditional analytics, and focusing on outcomes, intuition, and user experiences instead. The "anti-metric" movement highlights the value of measuring fewer, meaningful indicators, such as survival, warning, and growth metrics, while avoiding vanity metrics.

OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, shares insights on challenges, growth, and the journey toward AGI in his latest post. Since ChatGPT's launch in late 2022, OpenAI has grown exponentially, reaching 300 million active users and advancing both research and product development. Looking ahead to 2025, he envisions AI agents integrating into the workforce and the potential for superintelligence to revolutionize science, innovation, and prosperity.

Andreessen Horowitz released their seven big ideas for 2025. Key predictions include increased enterprise adoption of stablecoins for cost savings, countries exploring on-chain government bonds for financial transparency, and the rise of decentralized governance frameworks like the DUNA.

In this X thread, Jesse Pujji goes through all the juicy details of apparel brand, True Classic, and how it became a $1.5 billion startup with $0 funding.

Meta's decision to replace fact-checking with community-driven moderation could save billions, cutting costs from its $5 billion content moderation expenses in 2021, according to Michael Mignano. This strategic pivot also aligns with free speech priorities, likely easing Republican regulatory pressures.

Sam posted his side of the story on X/Twitter about the allegations from his sister.

The debate about whether founder CEOs or hired CEOs are better leaders continues. Founder CEOs often bring passion, vision, and a strong connection to their company’s mission, which can lead to higher market valuations, especially during IPOs. On the other hand, hired CEOs bring experience in managing larger, more mature businesses.

The Founder Fellowship for Spring 2025 is open and applications are due 2nd Feb! Get in or forward this to your homies.

💪Tech mafia of the week

Highlights:

💰 Most money raised: Cognition

🤑 Total money raised by the Scale AI Mafia: $613 million

Weekly Tech Mafia Leaderboard


The Scale AI alumni has built some amazing companies. This tech mafia group takes the 67th spot on our leaderboard, with 20 companies founded and $613 million raised.

PS: Are you a Scale AI alum interested in getting your community together to invest in the community (and earn carry/other benefits along the way)? Or are you a member of another community that you think would make for an amazing startup investment community?

Learn more about us and sign up for the waitlist here.

📌 PIN tweet of the week

💼 Who’s hiring in VC?

Looking to get into VC? Below are this week’s curated VC job openings.

MicroVentures is looking for a VC Associate.

AI Fund is looking for a VC Principal.

Seattle Childrens Hospital is looking for a VC Manager.

Amazon is looking for a Corporate Development Leader.

Camber Partners is looking for a VC Vice President.

📠 Fun fact of the week

Google’s first tweet was in 2009, and it was gibberish to most. Translated from binary to English, it reads, “I’m feeling lucky”.

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