<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=UTF-8"><meta charset="UTF-8"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"><meta name="x-apple-disable-message-reformatting"><title>TLDR Founders</title><meta name="color-scheme" content="light dark"><meta name="supported-color-schemes" content="light dark"><style type="text/css">
:root {
color-scheme: light dark; supported-color-schemes: light dark;
}
*,
*:after,
*:before {
-webkit-box-sizing: border-box; -moz-box-sizing: border-box; box-sizing: border-box;
}
* {
-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;
}
html,
body,
.document {
width: 100% !important; height: 100% !important; margin: 0; padding: 0;
}
body {
-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;
}
div[style*="margin: 16px 0"] {
margin: 0 !important;
}
table,
td {
mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt;
}
table {
border-spacing: 0; border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; margin: 0 auto;
}
img {
-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; border: 0;
}
*[x-apple-data-detectors] {
color: inherit !important; text-decoration: none !important;
}
.x-gmail-data-detectors,
.x-gmail-data-detectors *,
.aBn {
border-bottom: 0 !important; cursor: default !important;
}
.btn {
-webkit-transition: all 200ms ease; transition: all 200ms ease;
}
.btn:hover {
background-color: #f67575; border-color: #f67575;
}
* {
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;
}
@media screen and (max-width: 600px) {
.container {
width: 100%; margin: auto;
}
.stack {
display: block!important; width: 100%!important; max-width: 100%!important;
}
.btn {
display: block; width: 100%; text-align: center;
}
}
body,
p,
td,
tr,
.body,
table,
h1,
h2,
h3,
h4,
h5,
h6,
div,
span {
background-color: #FEFEFE !important; color: #010101 !important;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
body,
p,
td,
tr,
.body,
table,
h1,
h2,
h3,
h4,
h5,
h6,
div,
span {
background-color: #27292D !important; color: #FEFEFE !important;
}
}
a {
color: inherit !important; text-decoration: underline !important;
}
</style><!--[if mso | ie]>
<style type="text/css">
a {
background-color: #FEFEFE !important; color: #010101 !important;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
a {
background-color: #27292D !important; color: #FEFEFE !important;
}
}
</style>
<![endif]--></head><body class="">
<div style="display: none; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">a16z analyzed spending from 200,000 Mercury customers to see where startups put their AI dollars - horizontal apps beat vertical ones 60/40 </div>
<div style="display: none; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">
<br>
</div>
<table align="center" class="document"><tbody><tr><td valign="top">
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="container" width="600"><tbody><tr class="inner-body"><td>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr class="header"><td bgcolor="" class="container">
<table width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container">
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0px;">
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Ftldr.tech%2Ffounders%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/IEAcuTAN04zyQ-D6JhiYXj0eJKrkiaQc2Fynm4Tqysc=425" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span>Sign Up</span></a>
|<span style="margin-right: 2px; margin-left: 2px;"><a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fadvertise.tldr.tech%2F%3Futm_source=tldrfounders%26utm_medium=newsletter%26utm_campaign=advertisetopnav/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/SruPnD0P2_PNnQoDM7laTG6GrbO6EnJZlziO6rg-oMo=425" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span>Advertise</span></a></span>|<span style="margin-left: 2px;"><a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fa.tldrnewsletter.com%2Fweb-version%3Fep=1%26lc=1572f2fc-84b7-11f0-9937-47c5c04ad337%26p=dd7ceba2-a03e-11f0-90f7-6d8cf23a20a8%26pt=campaign%26t=1759493237%26s=df54f72d6631922d024d873803c399247d642a6e611fed293d11eaed191c952c/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/J0qgJPNLJN1S87dcqKQd_Rbt3Rxl-8hm4mpuKWI4iNA=425"><span>View Online</span></a></span>
<br>
</span></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="text-align: center;"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color:#3db3ff; color: rgb(51, 175, 255) !important; font-size: 30px;">T</span><span style="font-size: 30px;"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="color: rgb(232, 192, 96) !important; --darkreader-inline-color:#e8c163; font-size:30px;">L</span><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="color: rgb(101, 195, 173) !important; --darkreader-inline-color:#6ec7b2; font-size:30px;">D</span></span><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color:#dd6e6e; color: rgb(220, 107, 107) !important; font-size: 30px;">R</span>
<br>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<br>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr id="together-with"><td align="center" height="20" style="vertical-align:middle !important;" valign="middle" width="100%"><strong style="vertical-align:middle !important; height: 100%;">Together With </strong>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fopenrouter.ai%2F%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=tldr-founders%26utm_campaign=paid/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/bXrLd6ZYyrToS7e-JA9gXPrJ4ETGRQlY4EzsD3pGcRo=425"><img src="https://images.tldr.tech/openrouter.png" valign="middle" style="vertical-align: middle !important; height: 100%;" alt="OpenRouter"></a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<table style="table-layout: fixed; width:100%;" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding:0;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;margin:0;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<h1><strong> TLDR Founders <span id="date">2025-10-03</span></strong></h1>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table style="table-layout: fixed; width:100%;" width="100%"><tbody><tr id="sponsy-copy"><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fopenrouter.ai%2F%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=tldr-founders%26utm_campaign=paid/2/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/Wtt8heLa1440iTOMUHEhdzttwTl_5Ib5pUHkaGG8UpM=425">
<span>
<strong>Don't put all your eggs in one LLM basket (Sponsor)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
Customers expect your AI feature to just work - but every LLM vendor will throw outages, model changes, and other curveballs at you. The solution? Diversify.<p></p><p><a class="underline" href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fopenrouter.ai%2F%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=tldr-founders%26utm_campaign=paid/3/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/7qDPrf0UxD6idlBbq-NISG7QExXThvkepDgqfUNjzB8=425" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><span>OpenRouter gives you one API</span></a> that connects to 500+ models: GPT, Claude, Gemini, Llama, Mistral, and more. When one provider has issues, requests automatically route to your backup. Your users never see an error. Add ~25ms of latency, eliminate hours of downtime.</p>
<p>✅ OpenAI-compatible SDK: your existing code works out of the box.</p>
<p>✅ <a class="underline" href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fopenrouter.ai%2F%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=tldr-founders%26utm_campaign=paid/4/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/zSz3rZwEZd7CY79TnPH_y5gw7RmBAenlrCsdvobg8FI=425" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><span>Set fallback rules by price or latency</span></a>.</p>
<p>✅ Bring your own API key (or let users bring theirs)</p>
<p>👉 Join 4.2M+ global users. <a class="underline" href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fopenrouter.ai%2F%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=tldr-founders%26utm_campaign=paid/5/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/J1y3vauyl_2FMcKg5CaG-qlmobUMJM9UppGNMnPu4l8=425" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><span>Route your 1st prompt</span></a>
</p>
</span></span></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr bgcolor=""><td class="container">
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0px;">
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;">
<div class="text-block">
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 36px;">📈</span></div>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;">
<div class="text-block">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<h1><strong>Headlines & Trends</strong></h1>
</div>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table style="table-layout: fixed; width: 100%;" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding:0;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;margin:0;" valign="top">
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fa16zenterprise.substack.com%2Fp%2Fthe-ai-application-spending-report%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/oTxMNJxnPsMp5V91E5yGfNcDudn5Suv64AjXoAqhjhY=425">
<span>
<strong>The AI Application Spending Report (2 minute read)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
a16z analyzed spending from 200,000 Mercury customers to see where startups put their AI dollars - horizontal apps beat vertical ones 60/40, with creative tools dominating as the largest category, proving AI turned design into something everyone does. Vibe coding hit enterprise hard with Replit generating 15x more revenue than Lovable because it builds full enterprise-grade apps beyond just UI. Nearly 70% of companies moved from consumer to business in under two years, getting pulled into enterprises faster than any previous software era.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.assorthealth.com%2Fblog%2Fassort-health-secures-102m-to-scale-nations-first-agentic-ai-platform-that-solves-longstanding-frustrations-tied-to-patient-access-and-experience%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/o8GvPI3CykihX8iiLQue3yB0bOS0vs3EuhgW-nwgVYM=425">
<span>
<strong>Assort Health Secures $102M (4 minute read)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
Assort Health raised $76 million in a Series B funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners to expand its agentic AI platform, Assort OS. The platform streamlines patient access by reducing call wait times and integrating with EHR and PM systems, addressing longstanding scheduling frustrations. Assort Health's AI has improved the patient experience, delivering 98% resolution rates and driving substantial operational efficiencies for healthcare providers.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Flinks.tldrnewsletter.com%2FkcoFRG/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/P79v3Mwqr9q-sASJFMmgFlB-5_k0UV5wnbzCpz9ESOs=425">
<span>
<strong>Modal Labs hits unicorn status with $87M raise (1 minute read)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
Modal Labs secured $87 million from Lux Capital, reaching a $1.1 billion valuation. This marks a significant development in the competitive AI infrastructure market.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;">
<div class="text-block">
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 36px;">🧠</span></div>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;">
<div class="text-block">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<h1><strong>Strategies & Tactics</strong></h1>
</div>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table style="table-layout: fixed; width: 100%;" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding:0;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;margin:0;" valign="top">
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fthebootstrappedfounder.com%2Fhandling-multiple-icps-as-a-solo-founder%2F%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/WShTJGv4Ejsvyn9pnGHldJH-Jj_iRt_CNV_zVrjcBEw=425">
<span>
<strong>Balancing Multiple ICPs: Strategies for Solo Founders (12 minute read)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
Solo founders face challenges balancing multiple ideal customer profiles (ICPs). Strategies include time-boxing efforts, creating dedicated landing pages, and using smart classification during registration to target specific customer groups. Marketing and communication must be tailored for each ICP, ensuring relevant messaging and efficient resource allocation.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.saastr.com%2F5-interesting-learnings-from-figma-at-1-billion-in-arr%2F%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/ZvJe2vx3fTHKcvlWjZoK3FmLbgppCrjqam1yylaSrgQ=425">
<span>
<strong>5 Interesting Learnings from Figma at $1 Billion in ARR (3 minute read)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
Figma reached $1 billion in ARR with 41% growth, $100M+ net income, and 24% free cash flow margins. The company maintains strong expansion with 1,119 customers paying over $100K ARR, driving a 129% NDR at scale. Mid-market customers at $10K-$100K ARR offer significant growth potential, while strategic investments in AI and new products support future growth.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.lennysnewsletter.com%2Fp%2Fa-4-step-framework-for-building-delightful-products%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/JcwbksbnbRfhKCod9n5Gj1R-NWyZLGn_qTi1Jihywg8=425">
<span>
<strong>A 4-step framework for building delightful products (5 minute read)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
Nesrine Changuel emphasizes delight as a key business strategy, advising tech leaders to integrate emotional connection into product design. Her 4-step Delight Model includes identifying user motivators, converting these into opportunities, using a delight grid for solutions, and validating ideas with a checklist. This approach has been successfully applied in projects like Google Chrome and Spotify's Discover Weekly, illustrating the importance of balancing functionality and delight.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;">
<div class="text-block">
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 36px;">⚒️</span></div></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;">
<div class="text-block">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<h1><strong>Tools & Resources</strong></h1>
</div>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table style="table-layout: fixed; width: 100%;" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding:0;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;margin:0;" valign="top">
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.tryrivet.design%2F%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/d2M8lnfXCV-vSzs4NRC0HrwJJNJsnF57PUdslBg4_4s=425">
<span>
<strong>Rivet (Tool)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
Lets product designers own any UI change to the software they work on.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.openroll.com%2F%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/1SV8revHncNH7zAlDpacz4oGgLjeU2fKpHGiXBdyW8c=425">
<span>
<strong>Openroll (Tool)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
AI agents that reveal competitor pay and guide every salary decision.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fopenfunnel.dev%2F%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/CtlBTnFX_zr8F3eKRVHOILyLyDy8y8D71-iPkl6vB9k=425">
<span>
<strong>Openfunnel (Tool)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
Monitor your TAM and surface companies when custom triggers fire.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;">
<div class="text-block">
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 36px;">🎁</span></div></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;">
<div class="text-block">
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><h1>Miscellaneous</h1></strong></div>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table bgcolor="" style="table-layout: fixed; width: 100%;" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding:0;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;margin:0;" valign="top">
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fnewsletter.weskao.com%2Fp%2Freverse-impostor-syndrome%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/uLaoGuOP3kd7N17DO24hPbqfhndAR9cVks-PIT8ZA18=425">
<span>
<strong>Reverse Impostor Syndrome (4 minute read)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
A coach noticed tech leaders who know they're excellent but work behind closed doors, so their job titles and external signals don't match their actual skill level. The solution isn't building confidence but external positioning - learning to speak about your strategies and present to leadership in ways that feel authentic. Focus on behaviors like framing work as strategic and building business cases rather than surface-level personal branding advice.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.nicolasbustamante.com%2Fp%2Fthe-rag-obituary-killed-by-agents%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/0hIF8NcuLWwHWnuP0nJKxDaCr3RakUSvJNRaU8Z6NyI=425">
<span>
<strong>The RAG Obituary: Killed by Agents, Buried by Context Windows (4 minute read)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
A founder built a financial search engine using the standard playbook - break documents into chunks, turn them into vectors, search, rerank, feed results to an AI. It took three years and constant maintenance. Then he tried Claude Code and realized it just searched files directly with grep, a tool from 1973, and got better results. The entire retrieval infrastructure was solving a problem that no longer exists. Early AI could only read 12 pages at once, so you had to find the right fragments. Now it can read 6,000 pages, so it just reads everything and investigates like a human would.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Freview.firstround.com%2Fa-research-toolkit-for-the-discovery-phase%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/Tydmp9xQMQXJ7enVntsBY6Sabvd98g3dkargcV44Cb8=425">
<span>
<strong>A Research Thinking Toolkit to Speed Up the Discovery Phase (4 minute read)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
Founders are shipping MVPs in minutes with AI. However, a UX researcher who led discovery at Uber Eats says they're confusing motion with progress. Most teams build before figuring out if they're solving a real problem or if they're the right team to solve it. The fix is finding problem-solution fit first - who you are as a founder, what problem you're positioned to tackle, and whether your solution fits into someone's life. She breaks this into three phases. Incubate means resisting the urge to build richer ideas. Immerse means spending a focused week with customers instead of hundreds of scattered conversations. Integrate means being realistic about behavior change - your product needs to be 9X better than what people already use to overcome inertia.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;">
<div class="text-block">
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 36px;">⚡</span></div></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;">
<div class="text-block">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<h1><strong>Quick Links</strong></h1>
</div>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table bgcolor="" style="table-layout: fixed; width: 100%;" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding:0;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;margin:0;" valign="top">
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2025%2F10%2F01%2Fbetter-tomorrow-ventures-closes-140m-remains-bullish-on-fintech%2F%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/FElgCOSykgXJUxF9fPgRRXpfiscfLz9b_AXC3d7N-Ws=425">
<span>
<strong>Better Tomorrow Ventures closes $140M (3 minute read)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
Better Tomorrow Ventures raised a $140 million fund to invest in fintech.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2025%2F09%2F23%2Ftim-chen-has-quietly-become-of-one-the-most-sought-after-solo-investors%2F%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/y5G7nYqQBqpQfBWhlXTLHAEtoxnCXeWWhLGO_cz0p9I=425">
<span>
<strong>Tim Chen has quietly become of one the most sought-after solo investors (4 minute read)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
Tim Chen, the solo investor behind Essence VC, closed a $41 million fund quickly due to investor enthusiasm following Databricks' $2.2 billion acquisition of his portfolio company, Tabular.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block">
<span>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.breakingpoint.tech%2Fp%2Fthat-will-never-work%3Futm_source=tldrfounders/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/dLfYKeKatBr4ubQeWUBiE5hhAR1mKHwNngooBTBBMMo=425">
<span>
<strong>That Will Never Work (4 minute read)</strong>
</span>
</a>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;">
Failure in a project doesn't mean the idea is impossible; it may require a different approach, timing, or strategy.
</span>
</span>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left" style="word-break: break-word; vertical-align: top; padding: 5px 10px;">
<p style="padding: 0; margin: 0; font-size: 22px; color: #000000; line-height: 1.6; font-weight: bold;">
Want to advertise in TLDR? 📰
</p>
<div class="text-block" style="margin-top: 10px;">
If your company is interested in reaching an audience of founders, executives, and decision makers, you may want to <a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fadvertise.tldr.tech%2F%3Futm_source=tldrfounders%26utm_medium=newsletter%26utm_campaign=advertisecta/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/G9ov9GEOy4YD3HS0fniSEv8OULD_7m-z2tpBeQunkjI=425"><strong><span>advertise with us</span></strong></a>.
</div>
<br>
<!-- New "Want to work at TLDR?" section -->
<p style="padding: 0; margin: 0; font-size: 22px; color: #000000; line-height: 1.6; font-weight: bold;">
Want to work at TLDR? 💼
</p>
<div class="text-block" style="margin-top: 10px;">
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fjobs.ashbyhq.com%2Ftldr.tech/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/Z6c0Ms4JGyTfp4tkCyRdjQQ3josBTcNrV6ho1mVnKR4=425" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #0000EE; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><strong>Apply here</strong></a> or send a friend's resume to <a href="mailto:jobs@tldr.tech" style="color: #0000EE; text-decoration: underline;">jobs@tldr.tech</a> and get $1k if we hire them!
</div>
<br>
<div class="text-block">
If you have any comments or feedback, just respond to this email!
<br>
<br> Thanks for reading,
<br>
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fx.com%2Fandrewztan/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/_ivXKjNEhvyI4Wrqm2aWl9eUdhDz6VWQlACFslw6w78=425"><span>Andrew Tan</span></a> & <a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fkevinskyewu%2F/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/hhSJNBiS8XmTWuvga3MZB2H5lFvCTsS9M25XzgwAFUA=425"><span>Kevin Wu</span></a>
<br>
<br>
</div>
<br>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" bgcolor="" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="container" style="padding: 15px 15px;">
<div class="text-block" id="testing-id">
<a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Ftldr.tech%2Ffounders%2Fmanage%3Femail=silk.theater.56%2540fwdnl.com/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/1rFpTra9pd7CpXD0WfG1-YR1cL5nZ8-ZtI18gxPO_6U=425">Manage your subscriptions</a> to our other newsletters on tech, startups, and programming. Or if TLDR Founders isn't for you, please <a href="https://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fa.tldrnewsletter.com%2Funsubscribe%3Fep=1%26l=33bb36cf-4024-11ed-9a32-0241b9615763%26lc=1572f2fc-84b7-11f0-9937-47c5c04ad337%26p=dd7ceba2-a03e-11f0-90f7-6d8cf23a20a8%26pt=campaign%26pv=4%26spa=1759492909%26t=1759493237%26s=2f09574f4f57b90d4a9d258e0da612082932318518f22f599d191de33a75d8d7/1/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/vOcuTFhiCQN3Zj_JpKwnNaa2rLBiY78WD_Jj0FeG1bs=425">unsubscribe</a>.
<br>
</div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<img alt="" src="http://tracking.tldrnewsletter.com/CI0/01000199a9f82b62-8a41b40d-7549-4243-b63e-a7f65d7393ba-000000/p6-kzXmD3OoJEk7YB6pCTiZT_Te5YI5EGY1TkwCpWcM=425" style="display: none; width: 1px; height: 1px;">
</body></html>