Founder Mode - 10 Jan 2026

Hi there,

Welcome back to Founder Mode. Every week I’ll keep you updated on the top finds and opportunities, so that you save time and stay in the know.

Happy New Year 2026! Hopefully I am the last person to wish you that now that we’re at the end of week 2. 2025 was an experiment to start Founder Mode, sharing what I found valuable each week. The Founder Mode newsletter consistently hits ~45% open rates and 10% clicks, which is encouraging and an honour to get your attention each week. Thanks for sticking around! As we get into the groove of 2026, I hope to keep the bar high and share more cool content.

Thanks for reading, and let’s dive in!

🔥 Top Finds

Primer for founders and early employees on valuation
Nikunj has a great way of naming a thing everyone feels but rarely says out loud: “liar’s valuation.” The headline number gets used as a recruiting tool and growth signal, while the real economics hide in the terms, the structure, and who actually gets paid in an outcome. If you’re a founder hiring early, or an early employee trying to understand what your equity is really worth, this is the read that helps you stop getting crushed by not knowing what is behind the big number. 

AI terms of 2025 wrapped
A quick, fun glossary of the phrases that dominated AI discourse in 2025, the kind you’ve definitely seen in decks, threads, and product launches even if you rolled your eyes at them. I like pieces like this because they’re a shortcut to understanding what the industry is collectively obsessed with, and what people are trying to sell you. Skim it once and you’ll start spotting the hype patterns instantly. 

AI tools are overdelivering: results from large-scale AI productivity survey
Finally, a data point that’s not just doom and gloom. Lenny’s team surveyed 1,750 tech workers across roles to see what AI is actually doing to productivity and quality. The headline is simple: a lot of people say it’s beating expectations, and the details are even better because you can see where the real gains are showing up and where the opportunity pockets still exist. 

Elon Musk on AGI Timeline, US vs China, Job Markets, Clean Energy & Humanoid Robots
Whether you agree with Musk or not, he’s unusually clear about what he thinks the bottlenecks are: power generation, compute, and national-scale execution. The US vs China angle is especially worth listening to because it’s less about chips and more about the boring constraints that decide who can scale. If you want a founder-relevant takeaway, it’s this: the next decade rewards people who build around real-world constraints, not just clever demos. 

Case for being a delusional optimist
This is the mindset post I keep coming back to. The core idea lands: optimism alone is cheap, but optimism paired with consistency and work becomes a real advantage because it keeps you in the game long enough for compounding to kick in. If you’re building something hard, you need a slightly unreasonable belief that it can work, then you earn the right to believe it by shipping every week. 

OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health to connect user medical records, wellness apps
OpenAI is adding a dedicated ChatGPT Health experience that can ingest medical records and connect to wellness apps like Apple Health and MyFitnessPal, with privacy controls aimed at keeping sensitive health data out of training. This is a big distribution move into one of the highest-intent categories on the internet, and it will force every health and wellness product to rethink what value they provide when the interface becomes a conversational layer sitting on top of your data. 

🎯 Startup Opportunities

Sustainability Open Innovation Challenge

Seeking practical, scalable solutions with leading corporates across Renewable Energy, Sustainable Agrifood and Sustainable Materials.

Application Deadline: 30 Jan 2026

🛠 Tool of the Week

Claude Code
Claude Code isn’t just for engineers, and it’s not just for “coding.” I’ve seen it used for very normal knowledge work: cleaning up messy docs, turning rough notes into structured PRDs, generating SQL queries or spreadsheet formulas, drafting customer emails, and creating repeatable checklists and SOPs. Yes, it can also read your repo, fix bugs, and ship features, but the real unlock is that it helps you turn intent into output fast.
This is a great guide to get started: https://joshuaschultz.com/ai/articles/claude-code-complete-guide/

💬 Founder Mode Quotes

🙂 Fun Mode

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