Upside
This week's happenings in startup and investing land. Getting underneath VC, and discussing how to better support the European startup eco-system.
Every week we share what's been on our mind and get under the skin of VC, investing, startups and founder psychology.
From the team behind SuperSeed who invest in technical teams solving difficult business problems.
The network is run on LinkedIn so join me there - https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbowyer/
With full interview audio and video uploaded to all major outlets.
Love to hear from you - dan@superseed.com
Upside
Upside #31 - The Grind is Back
Euro Grind, Google Grind, and Startup Hustle.
As normal we dig behind the headlines to discuss the real stories affecting European venture. With Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen, Andrew Scott and Karin Nielsen.
The State of European Tech vs. the U.S.
- Karin’s reflections on her trip to San Francisco and the stark contrast in optimism between the U.S. and the UK.
- The resurgence of hustle culture in the U.S. and what Europe can learn from it.
Funding Gaps & European Venture Trends
- Stripe’s annual letter highlights European productivity challenges and regulatory barriers.
- The need for European capital market reforms to boost startup funding.
- Discussion on whether Europe should adopt a ‘Buy European’ strategy.
AI Advancements & Enterprise Adoption
- The launch of Claude 3.7 by Anthropic and GPT-4.5 by OpenAI: Are these models delivering real breakthroughs?
- China’s AI strategy and the impact of DeepSeek’s pricing strategy on global AI competition.
- The challenges enterprises face in adopting AI, from legacy systems to regulatory concerns.
The Future of Work & The ‘Grind’ Debate
- Sergey Brin’s push to bring Googlers back to the office: Should startups embrace remote work or office culture?
- The debate over whether European startups work hard enough and whether remote work fosters or hinders hustle.
- Insights from Karin on how remote-first startups can thrive with the right culture and tools.
AI’s Impact on Venture Capital
- Will AI-driven deal sourcing make VCs obsolete, or will brand and relationships matter more than ever?
- The shift towards hyper-personalised outreach and the rise of X (formerly Twitter) as a key VC-founder networking tool.
- Why AI-powered investing will still require human intuition to identify outlier founders.
Deal of the Week: Lovable
- The meteoric rise of Lovable, Europe’s fastest-growing startup.
- From launch to $17M ARR in 18 months: What’s behind its explosive growth?
- The future of AI-powered no-code solutions and their impact on SaaS.
