Founder Mode - 22 Oct 2025

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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.

This week, AWS suffered a major outage that took down many internet services. Marketing teams were locked out of Canva, and crypto traders couldn’t access Coinbase. Yet, Amazon’s stock climbed despite the massive AWS downtime — a reminder of just how dominant they remain in cloud infrastructure, and how normalized these disruptions have become.

Thanks for reading, and let’s dive in!

AI Salon is coming to Singapore. Join the AI Salon Singapore chapter launch - the global community connecting AI founders, builders, investors, and innovators across 77 chapters in 40+ countries. We’ll have an exceptional lineup of speakers and attendees. Seats are limited and expected to max out venue capacity, so sign up early.

🔥 Top Finds

OpenAI Enters the Browser Wars with Atlas
OpenAI just launched Atlas, an AI-native browser that embeds ChatGPT directly into your web experience. It can see what you’re looking at, remember sites, and act as an agent to complete tasks across the internet. Atlas marks OpenAI’s boldest move yet into everyday computing on taking on Google.

LLMs Can Get Brain Rot
One of the most unsettling AI papers of 2025 shows that large language models can literally “rot their own brains”, similar to how humans lose focus from endless junk content. When fed months of viral Twitter posts, models lost reasoning ability and coherence.

Hiring in the Age of AI
There’s always been a gap between what companies test for and what actually matters once you’re hired and AI has widened that gap. The best signals of great talent today aren’t degrees or technical tests, which is upsetting to many people. Judgment, curiosity, systematic thinking, and learning velocity. This framework helps you evaluate those traits effectively.

The Rise of Offline Outbound Marketing
Top growth teams are ditching automated AI outreach for physical, high-touch marketing tactics to stand out from digital noise. From handwritten notes to real-world stunts, these campaigns show that creativity and human connection can still outperform automation in 2025. Do you have a story to share how you are doing this for your company?

How Jensen Huang Works
I love podcasts and this was on my radar as the top of listen of the week. This deep-dive on Nvidia’s Jensen Huang is one of the best breakdowns of high-performance leadership you’ll find. His approach is often counterintuitive. It may not fit everyone, but it’s a fascinating case study in focus, speed, and conviction.

🎯 Startup Opportunities

🚀 Go Beyond Borders — Join the China Scale-Up Program 2025

StartupX is partnering with leading Chinese municipal governments and Forbes China to open real market access for Southeast Asian tech founders.

Over 10 days, selected companies will engage directly with decision-makers in Zhengzhou, Chongqing, and Suzhou — across sectors like AI, Advanced Manufacturing, Agritech, Biopharma, and New Materials. Expect private meetings with investors, matchmaking with 600+ local companies, and exclusive aess to city-level innovation and industrial leaders.

If you’re keen on scaling into China, this is for you.

👉 Interest Limited seats for high-potential startups and growth-stage founders.

Other Startup Opportunities

🛠 Tool of the Week

Comet AI Browser

I’ve been using Comet as my main browser and it helps improve my workflow and speed, unfortunately when I shared it the last time it was behind a $200/month paywall for Pro users and I had limited invites. Good news is that Perplexity has just made its Comet browser free worldwide, it blends search, browsing, and task automation into one seamless experience. Your AI assistant can now see pages, summarize content, and take actions directly on the web.

Use my invite to try it out and get one month of Perplexity Pro free.

💬 Founder Mode Quotes

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