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- Founder Mode - 20 Nov 2025
Founder Mode - 20 Nov 2025
Your 5-min weekly read on my top finds, opportunities and startups resources.
StartupX Admin
November 20, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
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. It has been a crazy week with many new launches and developments in the tech and real world.
Thanks for reading, and let’s dive in!
🔥 Top Finds
Jeff Bezos is the co-CEO of a new AI startup
Bezos jumps back into an operational role with Project Prometheus, already funded with $6.2B. Elon called him a copycat but when someone like him gets back into the trenches, there is a good reason.
ICIJ Exposes “Coin Laundry,” Crypto’s Criminal Financial System
A deep breakdown of how criminal networks move money through crypto. Useful context and more of a forensic breakdown of how bad actors move money. This part of crypto always doesn’t sit well with me. why are we supporting criminals?
Protecting Your Eyes in the Digital Age
Myopia is rising fast. Screens won’t slow down, but simple preventive steps can. Practical guide for anyone glued to a laptop or phone(all of us).
YC’s Formula for Startups
Reframes how founders should think about being fundable: investors look for a clear and meaningful market, early signs of traction, and a team that reduces execution risk. The article pushes founders to stop blindly adding features and instead run tight validation loops that prove demand, de-risk the business, and show momentum.
How To Decode What Customers Actually Want
A great series on understanding demand. One useful idea: demand isn’t always driven by pain, sometimes it’s desire, identity, or aspiration.
Google Unveils Gemini 3
Google drops its most advanced model yet. Gemini 3 Pro tops LMSYS Arena at 1501 Elo and leads ARC-AGI-2 at 31.11%, pulling ahead of xAI, Anthropic, and OpenAI. Got many people surprised who big a leap Google took. Looks like Buffet’s investment in Google will pay off.
🎯 Startup Opportunities
The Liveability Challenge 2026 The Liveability Challenge seeks disruptive deep-tech solutions to reduce carbon emissions and address climate-induced extreme weather.
| MedTech Innovator APAC Accelerator The program offers mentorship, a customized virtual curriculum, high-profile visibility, and the chance to compete for up to USD 300,000 in cash and prizes. | Activate AI: Economic Opportunity Challenge A global call for innovative AI applications that empower people and communities and unlock economic opportunity for a resilient future. |
🛠 Tool of the Week
Supabase is an open-source backend-as-a-service that provides real-time databases, authentication, and API services. It enables developers to build and scale applications quickly without managing server infrastructure.
CTV ads made easy: Black Friday edition
As with any digital ad campaign, the important thing is to reach streaming audiences who will convert. Roku’s self-service Ads Manager stands ready with powerful segmentation and targeting — plus creative upscaling tools that transform existing assets into CTV-ready video ads. Bonus: we’re gifting you $5K in ad credits when you spend your first $5K on Roku Ads Manager. Just sign up and use code GET5K. Terms apply.
💬 Founder Mode Quotes
“If you’re unsure of what to do, just do anything, even if it’s the wrong thing. This will give you information about what you should actually be doing.”
🙂 Fun Mode
Got a tip, cool tool, or collab idea? Hit reply and drop it in my inbox. Your note can be as quick as a meme or as deep as a pitch deck. Either way, I read every email.
If this newsletter sparked joy, please pass it along to a friend who should be in Founder Mode. Sharing is free and motivates me to help bring you the best finds every week.
- Ray
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