TLDR Founders

TLDR FOUNDERS 2025-10-22

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01GENERAL

Sponsored

REVENUE

98% of software vendors sell online, with over half generating the majority of of their revenue from ecommerce channels. But new research from Cleverbridge [4] shows that SaaS companies are lagging at checkout and beyond - leaving billions on the table.

grow.cleverbridge.comSponsor

03STRATEGIES & TACTICS

ONLY 100 METRICS MATTER

Companies track thousands of numbers, but almost none of them change decisions. In reality, about 100 metrics explain 90% of what's happening. Once you break the business into equations - growth, engagement, revenue - you see which levers actually matter. Everything else lives in the long tail: useful for edge cases, not for running the company.

opinionatedintelligence.substack.com2 min read

WHY WE BUY: THE OMISSION BIAS

People judge harmful actions more harshly than harmful inactions - this is known as the “Omission Bias.” Buying feels riskier than not buying because action carries blame if it backfires. Amazon and others flip that bias by showing the cost of doing nothing. When inaction feels like “the bad decision” - whether it's a higher cart price, lost ROI, or missed deal - spending suddenly feels like the safer move.

ckarchive.com3 min read

HOW STRUGGLE BECOMES STRATEGY

Pejman Nozad reflects on his 32-year journey from living above a yogurt shop to becoming a top Silicon Valley investor, framing early hardship as the foundation of empathy and insight in venture capital. He highlights lessons on perseverance, resourcefulness, and the power of community in supporting founders through isolation and uncertainty. His message centers on transforming struggle into strategy and using personal adversity as an enduring advantage in investing and leadership.

links.tldrnewsletter.com3 min read

04TOOLS & RESOURCES

TUSK

AI testing tool for API testing, unit testing, and integration testing

usetusk.aiTool

CLARIFY

Clarify is an autonomous CRM that automates pipeline building, deal tracking, and sales tasks for founders and early-stage teams.

clarify.aiTool

INTEGRAL

Integral is a modern Slack/Discord alternative built for large teams and communities, focused on deeper discussions and fewer interruptions.

integralhq.comTool

05MISCELLANEOUS

PRIORITIZATION STARTS WITH STRATEGY

Most teams treat prioritization as a to-do list problem when it's really a strategy problem. Every decision about what's “valuable” reflects a bet on where leverage lives and where decay is setting in. The real work is mapping the forces at play: what increases or protects revenue, what reduces or protects cost, and which advantages will actually last. Once you see those dynamics, prioritization stops being about urgency and starts being about power.

cutlefish.substack.com4 min read

ANTHROPIC IS CATCHING UP WITH OPENAI

Anthropic quietly went from $1B to nearly $7B in run-rate revenue this year, a six-fold jump that puts it within striking distance of OpenAI. While OpenAI dominates headlines, Anthropic's API-driven business is growing faster and more efficiently, relying less on free users and more on enterprise integrations. Beneath the public fights about AI ethics and regulation, the real story is simpler: Anthropic might actually win on execution.

cautiousoptimism.news1 min read

TWELVE YEARS, 400 STARTUPS, AND A NEW $87,654,321 FUND

Boost VC launches an $87M Fund 4 to invest in 150 Deep Tech startups, focusing on nuclear energy, genetics, and space travel. The fund boosts Boost VC's assets under management to over $300M, with notable investments in companies like Coinbase, Radiant Nuclear, and Colossal Biosciences. Previous funds have shown strong returns, with Fund I achieving a 4.35× DPI and 7.02× TVPI.

adamdraper.vc3 min read