The no-hire unicorn trend is fascinating. It completely inverts the old VC playbook of 'we're investing in your team's ability to scale.' Now the bet is on a founder's ability to automate scaling. Changes everything about what a strong team even looks like at the seed stage.
Great point Hodman! I think in a few years we’ll see which of these ‘no-hire unicorns’ were hype and which were real. At the seed stage, the team will always be the core of any investment decision. That said, how effectively founders leverage automation is becoming a huge part of the equation — and definitely not something to underestimate.
What a cracking round-up! There’s so much here that makes you stop and think. The bit on lean AI-native startups really stood out for me, it feels like a complete rethink of what scale actually looks like. According to Dealroom, global VC hit $337bn in 2024 which shows there’s still plenty of capital flowing: https://dealroom.co
Which of these shifts do you think will have the biggest impact over the next 12 months?
Thanks Melanie! The hype is definitely centered on agentic AI right now — time will tell how much of it sticks 🙂
Personally, I’m really bullish on autonomous vehicles in logistics. Funny timing: just yesterday I saw the first driverless electric shuttle running in Milton Keynes city centre! 🚐⚡
The no-hire unicorn trend is fascinating. It completely inverts the old VC playbook of 'we're investing in your team's ability to scale.' Now the bet is on a founder's ability to automate scaling. Changes everything about what a strong team even looks like at the seed stage.
Thanks for putting this together!
Great point Hodman! I think in a few years we’ll see which of these ‘no-hire unicorns’ were hype and which were real. At the seed stage, the team will always be the core of any investment decision. That said, how effectively founders leverage automation is becoming a huge part of the equation — and definitely not something to underestimate.
Thanks for the weekly round up - always jam packed 🌟
Thanks Chris! Always aiming to pack in the signals without the noise.
What a cracking round-up! There’s so much here that makes you stop and think. The bit on lean AI-native startups really stood out for me, it feels like a complete rethink of what scale actually looks like. According to Dealroom, global VC hit $337bn in 2024 which shows there’s still plenty of capital flowing: https://dealroom.co
Which of these shifts do you think will have the biggest impact over the next 12 months?
Thanks Melanie! The hype is definitely centered on agentic AI right now — time will tell how much of it sticks 🙂
Personally, I’m really bullish on autonomous vehicles in logistics. Funny timing: just yesterday I saw the first driverless electric shuttle running in Milton Keynes city centre! 🚐⚡
Here’s the link if you haven’t seen it yet: https://www.traffictechnologytoday.com/news/autonomous-vehicles/driverless-bus-set-to-hit-the-roads-in-milton-keynes-uk-next-month.html