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- Founder Mode - 23 July 2025
Founder Mode - 23 July 2025
We look for opportunities so that you don't have to.
StartupX Admin
July 23, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
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Hi there,
Welcome to Founder Mode, the newsletter that keeps you updated on the top finds and opportunities, so that to save time and stay in the know.
Let’s go 🚀
AI founders: Got a game-changing startup?
Building the future of AI? Here's your shot at $50K to make it happen.
The Next Big AIdea pitch competition is live. If you've got an AI startup that's changing how businesses grow, we want to see it.
Record a 60-second pitch and you could win $50,000 cash, $25K in AWS credits, 600K Clay credits + Pro Plan, and exposure to millions through HubSpot Media's network.
Five finalists get flown to San Francisco to pitch live at INBOUND 2025 in front of 1,000+ industry leaders.
Your AI idea deserves more than just another LinkedIn post.
🔥 Top Finds
7 Lessons From Launching My First Product
Shlok shares what went right and what flopped, while building and launching his first product. From positioning to pricing to growth that flatlined, it’s a refreshingly candid post that any builder will relate to. My take is that anything worth doing is going to be hard, and that is something we should all embrace.
How ChatGPT Is Changing the Words We Use
This fascinating piece explores how people subtly shift their vocabulary after interacting with ChatGPT, even in unrelated daily conversations. First it learns from us, then we learn and change from it.
How Carta saves 3,500+ hours per month using AI agent
Learn how Carta identified a problem, set the right parameters for solving it and actually built the tool to do it. It’s an excellent example of AI in production driving meaningful business impact.
🎯 Startup Opportunities
Global Rail 2025 Innovation Award Scouting for innovations from around the world to transform the transportation landscape. Application Deadline: 31 July 2025 | PAN-SEA AI Developer Challenge 2025 Join a regional effort to shape the future of AI across Southeast Asia, build on the SEA-LION LLM. Application Deadline: 4 August 2025 | NTT Startup Challenge 2025 NTT open innovation contest for startups solving real-world business and societal problems. Application Deadline: 31 August 2025 |
🛠 Tool of the Week
Sunsama
Sunsama is a beautifully minimalistic, daily planner app built for knowledge workers and busy professionals. It’s designed to help you live intentionally and end each day feeling accomplished and balanced
💬 Founder Mode Quotes
“The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.” — Ingvar Kamprad
🙂 Fun Mode
Just found this gem in fb, cannot stop laughing, well coldplayed!
— Sergey Drozdkov (@0xblackbirdoff)
10:43 AM • Jul 19, 2025
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 an “aha,” pass it along to another builder 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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