Mostly building

work in progress

• Products. Whatagraph expands to become a one-stop marketing data platform. Salesforge introduces Mailforge, to future-proof cold email infrastructure. NordVPN is about to launch Saily - global esim service. Turing College partners with Google to launch a Digital Marketing and Analytics program.
• Fintech celebrities - Andrius Biceika (Revolut) talks to Wired.cz while NYSE talks to Daumantas Dvilinskas, TransferGo.
• Sports and Tech. Scorestars 🇪🇪 just secured EUR 725k round from Startup Wise Guys, Trind Ventures 3 Comma Capital SCR, SA. Who else is building for sports in the Baltics?

• Dual-tech. Too much happening to fit all this week, but Aktyvus Photonics tells more about how Baudejas works (thumbs up for this title), RSI Europe signed LOI with Ukraine Defence Industry, and there is a VC firechat in Vilnius tomorrow - sign up.
• Too good for venture. It would be fun to build a list of small yet very profitable tech teams in the Baltics - have ideas on how to pick them? We may need start with Web Robots, Eldorado Market, or Glosendas.
• Latvia will have a real Startup House in Riga - cool non-for-profit initiative.
• People moves. Rokas Golcas leaving carVertical, has built his personal moat on google ads - including some tooling in works. Antanas, Ringaudas and Lukas left Nosto - after bootstrapping SearchNode and successful acquisition they are back to building new. Will add them to the list and keen to follow that journey.

rounds and capital

• Plug and Play accelerator is open for applications
• Kilo Health launched incubator for founders, even pre-idea. They will work alongside for 2 months to turn great minds into great MVPs.
• Graphs and insights on venture funding in Norway 2023. Good place for hardware startups (30% share)
• byFounders reviewing New Nordics 2023 - data on announced early-stage deals done by VCs.
• All first-time venture funds - established in the Nordics in 2023

How AWS Pricing Works: Understanding Your Costs

founder's guide

• You've heard the concept of "10x engineer" - now with AI, we could see 10x salesperson, someone who can demonstrate outlier results consistently.
• Brian Chesky on how to build strong cofounder relationships
• Rapid hiring when series A/B gets closed, and typical misalignment
• Learnings from running dinner parties - we need more of this type
• The silly mistake of turning down "small publications" - the same reporters later work at big ones
• 5 fundraising traps to avoid in this market

roleplay

Pick a startup - find a job

Inspired by the reader’s comment below, a practical framework for how to think, research and find the best jobs in the tech market. A draft -help improve this by sending your suggestions. The early options that matter have already matured and there are just not enough high-growth early stage startu…

Tech PhilomathsEditor

further insights

• R&D spending of Amazon is greater than the R&D spending of all companies and government in France...
• Semafor's newsletters are my favourite in terms of design - it was Al Lucca behind them
• Bottled water contains a lot more plastic particles than previously thought

ecosystem

• Vilnius is on the move, transforming into a truly international hub. The city's fabric is rapidly changing with a significant influx of immigrants, primarily from Belarus and Ukraine — a trend that skyrocketed following Russia's start of war. Since 2017, 70% of newcomers hail from these countries. I keep thinking that we have failed to capitalize on this opportunity to become a talent hotspot, at least yet.
• One can notice there are more languages in use, including Russian which often becomes a common denominator when talking a Bolt ride. In the face of this shift, Lithuania needs (=needed) to make a solid pivot towards English. While there is a benefit of understanding and welcoming in languages many people speak, Vilnius should be pushing for an "English-first" approach in administrative and support services for foreigners.
• Language is more than a tool - it defines your culture, your media, and your identity. This isn't just about convenience; it's a strategic embrace of the Western world and a deliberate step away from Moscow's orbit. And our newcomers should feel they have left that empire irreversibly.
• This trend of migration will continue, and it will get more diverse - which is great. But it is also clear that Lithuanian will not be the lingua franca for all who move in, and English should enable foreigners to navigate services and everyday life. It also does not mean to exclude or push back for people who moved (especially those escaping war), but helpful to start signalling that everything is easily available via EN or LT.
• Boosting English training within public services would be a simple starting point. Other steps should be necessary legislative changes, more English everywhere - from street signs to the websites of institutions. But it does start with some political leadership, from understanding what global talent hubs look like, and a vision of a truly vibrant and diverse capital.
• It *might* be that Vytautas below approves this message, too. We need to check.