Harry Stebbings: ‘I regret 996 in many ways’
THE SO WHAT
The 996 backlash from high-profile investors is a cultural re-rating of burnout as a strategy. For founders, that weakens the social license to run martyrdom cultures and strengthens the case for compounding, sustainable execution.
READ THE SOURCE
MORE FROM THE WIRE
Startups & VenturePakistan’s Fashion Brand Khaadi Plans IPO Next Month
Khaadi’s planned IPO to fund outlet expansion is a bet that physical retail in emerging markets still has headroom despite macro volatility. For consumer operators in similar regions, public markets may be reopening for scaled, profitable brands with clear offline growth stories.
Startups & VenturePhoton held a funeral for mobile apps. Now it has $4.5M to help replace them with agents
Photon raising $4.5M to build agents that live in iMessage, SMS/RCS, and email is a concrete bet that distribution shifts from app stores to messaging surfaces. If you’re still designing consumer flows around app installs, start prototyping agent-first experiences where the “product” is a thread, not an icon.
Startups & VentureExclusive: Homeward Raises $120M To Help Homeowners Buy And Sell More Quickly As Housing Market Stalls
Homeward pulling in a $120M Series D in a stalled housing market shows capital still backs models that unlock transaction velocity—buy-before-you-sell and cash offers as liquidity tools. Proptech founders should bias toward products that unstick deals and financing, not just nicer search UX.
Startups & VentureNvidia-backed GMI Cloud raises $668m as contracted revenue tops $600m
GMI Cloud raising $668M—$223M equity plus a $445M credit line—on $600M+ of contracted revenue is another data point that GPU rental with long-term commitments is bankable infrastructure, not speculative SaaS. If you’re a heavy AI user, multi-year GPU contracts are becoming the norm, and your bargaining power is highest before you’re compute-constrained.