PIN

A newsletter for communities, investors, angels, and founders

Author

Power in Numbers
November 28, 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

Harmonic, the AI startup co-founded by Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev, just raised $120 million to push deeper into math-based reasoning models. The company says its “Mathematical Superintelligence” tech can eliminate hallucinations by forcing AI to show its logic as verifiable code. Its flagship model, Aristotle, recently matched top scores at the International Mathematical Olympiad, drawing strong investor interest.

A new MIT study shows today’s AI systems could already handle tasks equal to 11.7% of U.S. jobs, representing up to $1.2 trillion in wages. Using a national labor simulation called the Iceberg Index, researchers mapped how AI reshapes skills and roles across every state, far beyond tech hubs. The goal is to help policymakers plan reskilling efforts before disruption hits.

Sam Altman says OpenAI’s upcoming AI device will feel “simple” and calming, a sharp contrast to today’s distraction-heavy tech. The pocket-sized, screenless gadget is being designed with Jony Ive and aims to filter noise, surface information at the right time, and build deep contextual awareness of a user’s life.

A fake deliveryman forced his way into a San Francisco home and stole $11 million in crypto. The house belongs to tech investor Lachy Groom, and the victim inside the home was a friend and fellow investor. Groom has past personal ties to Sam Altman, and the attacker appeared to be part of a coordinated group that used personal details to intimidate the victim.

Unicorn creation just hit its strongest month in over three years, with twenty new companies adding $44.5 billion in value in October. Crunchbase’s latest data shows that the market is finally stabilizing, even as funding concentrates heavily around AI-native winners. For B2B SaaS founders with solid traction and real AI capabilities, capital is flowing again. The bar is higher but the opportunity is clearly back.

💰 Funding announcement highlights

Momentic, a San Francisco startup that automates software testing, raised a $15 million Series A. Standard Capital led the deal, with Dropbox Ventures, Y Combinator, FCVC, Transpose Platform, and Karman Ventures also joining.

Opti, a one-year-old startup using AI to analyze identity risk and recommend least-privilege access decisions across enterprise systems, raised a $20 million seed round. YL Ventures, Mayfield Fund, and Hetz Ventures co-led the investment, with Squared Circle Ventures and Maple Capital also contributing.

Maritime Fusion, a San Francisco startup aiming to build a ship-based fusion reactor using high-temperature superconducting magnets, raised a $4.5 million seed round. Trucks VC was the main investor, with Aera VC, Alumni Ventures, Paul Graham, and Y Combinator also joining.

Made Card, a startup whose credit card and app help homeowners manage expenses and earn rewards tied to mortgage payments, raised $8 million. Jump Capital and Village Global co-led the round, which also included Recharge Capital and Soma Capital. 

Interface, a San Francisco-based AI-powered industrial safety platform, raised $3.5 million. Defy.vc, Precursor Ventures, and Rock Yard Ventures were part of the investors.

📚 Interesting reads of the week

PitchBook is rising concern on tech companies overspending on AI as capital expenditures surge to historic levels. Massive data center investments, often financed by debt, have sparked fears that returns may not keep pace with the hype. Yet private markets remain unfazed, with AI valuations soaring past their ZIRP-era peaks. If sentiment turns, the impact could ripple across the entire tech ecosystem.

Venture capital has become overwhelmingly concentrated in AI, starving retail, consumer and traditional software startups of funding. More than half of all VC dollars this year have gone to AI companies, creating a split market where one sector thrives while everything else struggles. Investors say the concentration brings both massive upside and significant risk, pushing allocators to rethink how they get AI exposure.

A new wave of acquirers is buying stalled, once-VC-backed software companies and turning them profitable through cost cuts and price increases. Players like Bending Spoons and Curious see long-term value in these “venture zombies,” which often sell for as little as 1x revenue. Their model is simple: buy cheap, centralize operations, and drive strong cash flow instead of chasing venture-style hypergrowth. With hundreds of aging SaaS startups on the market, investors say this quiet acquisition trend is only getting started.

Fei-Fei Li, a Stanford scientist, reflects on how quickly AI has become a defining, civilization-level technology, far beyond what she imagined when she began her career. In this interview, Li argues that the future of AI depends on human agency, responsible development and better communication with educators and policymakers. Even as she celebrates the technology’s potential, she warns that its impact on jobs, energy and society demands thoughtful choices.

The difference between leaders who impress and those who genuinely empower comes down to making others feel capable. According to Deb Liu, the most effective mentors ask questions, listen deeply and create space for people to find their own answers. Her core insight: lasting impact comes not from proving your brilliance but from helping others see their own.

📌 PinPoint - Weekly Startup Job Opportunities

Sunday is hiring a Robotics System Integrations Engineer.

Parallel Web Systems is hiring a Research Scientist.

Gamma is hiring a Senior Visual Designer.

Whatnot is hiring a Data Scientist, Growth Marketing.

Bending Spoons is hiring a Junior Content Manager.

You can earn thousands of dollars for referring candidates to top companies. Sign up to PinPoint.

📌 Tweet of the week

💼 Who’s hiring in VC?

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

Altuva Group is looking for a VC Partner

Yale Ventures is looking for a VC Director

DBL Partners is looking for a VC Analyst

Metanex is looking for a VC Associate

Arnold Ventures is looking for a VC Director