Founder Weekly (Issue 703 October 8 2025)

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Welcome to issue 703 of Founder Weekly. Let's get straight to the links this week.

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General

The Unse*y Startup Advantage: Why Boring Markets Create the Biggest Winners

When most people think about startups, they picture sleek apps, cutting-edge AI, or consumer products that dominate the headlines. But here is the paradox: some of the biggest venture outcomes don’t come from “sey” markets. They come from industries most founders overlook, the ones seen as too boring, too messy, or too unglamorous. This is the Unsey Startup Advantage.

Go Deep to Build Fast: A Research Thinking Toolkit to Speed Up the Discovery Phase

UX research expert Jeanette Mellinger shares a toolkit for deeper discovery of your customers, your team and yourself.

Topology of "China AI"

On circles, misconceptions, deep infrastructure, founder archetypes, state's role, memes, AGI. A conversation about the topology of China’s AI world for you.

Sequencing vs. Equal Odds

The post contrasts two R&D strategies: "Sequencing," which follows a detailed, visionary roadmap to tackle technical and commercial milestones with strong leadership, and "Equal Odds," which focuses on rapid, high-quality experiments and learning from many attempts amid uncertainty. It warns against mixing these approaches midstream, as clarity and commitment to one are key for organizational success.

Marketing, Sales and PR

Anatomy of an enterprise platform company

Everyone says they’re building a platform company, but the proof is in the P&L.

Finding hidden growth opportunities in your product

Albert Cheng, who led growth at Duolingo, Grammarly, and Chess.com, shares practical frameworks for uncovering growth opportunities, emphasizing rapid experimentation (1,000/year) and deep user insight. He highlights the importance of using the explore–exploit model, leveraging AI for experimentation, and focusing on user retention and resurrected users to drive long-term success in consumer subscription products.

GTM Benchmarking Tool

The Scale Venture Partners GTM Benchmark Tool provides founders and GTM leaders with up-to-date, detailed data on go-to-market performance metrics, allowing comparison across companies by pricing model and growth rate. It reveals how AI-driven products are changing traditional sales dynamics such as faster sales cycles but higher churn and longer CAC payback—helping teams adapt strategies based on real, granular metrics.

Money and Finance

Why Strategic Acquirers Are Moving Earlier in Deep Tech

In deep tech, something unusual is happening. Big tech, defense primes, and industrial giants are no longer waiting a decade to acquire startups. They are moving earlier, sometimes as early as Series A. Why is this shift happening now? And what does it mean for founders and investors?

The Barbell Venture Market

Why founders are feeling both heat and chill in 2025.