The Daily Index — Monday, November 17, 2025 · TLDR Index

HEADLINES & TRENDS

TLDR Founders

TLDR Founders

BUILD WHAT'S FUNDABLE

Technology is a tool. So is venture capital. We must not become a tool of our tools. Anchor yourself in beliefs. Otherwise, you'll assimilate and lose your individuality.

investing101.substack.com · 30 min

TLDR Founders

ONLY THREE KINDS OF AI PRODUCTS ACTUALLY WORK

There are three successful types of large language model products: chatbots, coding completion products, and agentic products. Summarization, translation, and transcription are more features of a chatbot product than products in their own right. LLM-generated feeds and video games based on AI-generated content don't work yet, but may soon. LLMs have a lot of potential, but most people are building copies of the same thing.

seangoedecke.com · 17 min

TLDR Founders

HOW TO SCALE DISTRIBUTED PRODUCT TEAMS FROM 10 TO 100+ IN 2025

Scaling a distributed product team can be very challenging. What gets you from 0 to 10 people won't get you to 50. Getting to 150 requires deliberately breaking working patterns and replacing them with new ones. Companies that successfully scale plan for their next stage while still in their current one. Scaling is about multiplication, not addition - create systems that enable others to do more.

intelligentfuturetech.com · 11 min

TLDR Founders

EARNOUT BASICS

Earnouts look simple but hinge on details most founders don't control after the sale.

linkedin.com · 2 min

TLDR Founders

MODELBUSTERS ARE RESHAPING TECH

Modelbusters are companies that take advantage of a platform shift and the new business models that the shift makes possible. The TAM for these companies is much bigger than all the consensus estimates and financial models in the world can predict. When they catch momentum, they grow much faster than anyone would expect. A new generation of modelbusters is forming thanks to AI.

threadreaderapp.com · 2 min

TLDR Founders

NEW VC FUNDS AT/BELOW $200M IN SIZE (SPREADSHEET)

This spreadsheet contains a list of new VC funds at or below $200 million in size. Sorted by year raised, this resource is for founders who are raising capital. The more recent the fund was raised, the more capital the VC firm tends to have available for new investments.

docs.google.com

TLDR Founders

A WORLD OF AUTOMATABLE DOMAINS

Human data markets remain crucial for training advanced models.

seancai.com · 11 min

TLDR Founders

NARRATIVE IS THE INTERFACE

If apps are the interface to software, then the narrative is the interface to your company.

99d.substack.com · 2 min

TLDR Founders

LETTERS ON PALANTIR'S ORIGINS AND ETHICS

This letter resurfaces two older essays that treat Palantir less as a startup and more as a political project.

aletteraday.substack.com · 6 min