brought to you with
✦
The AI gold rush is in full swing, but the bill is coming due — even as the world just wrapped up its Christmas break. From record ransomware payouts and rising cybersecurity arms races to data centers inflating local power bills, the cost of “move fast and scale” is no longer abstract.
Governments are scrambling for leverage—cutting tariffs, reshaping trade, and backing domestic infrastructure—while Europe’s startup ecosystem limps toward recovery, hoping AI momentum and the occasional exit can paper over deeper capital scars.
-🕶️
✦
Six bullets of updates
🌍 Countries can sidestep US tariffs by boosting free trade deals, making goods cheaper and economies stronger.
📉 Europe’s startup market hasn’t fully recovered yet, but exits like Klarna and rising AI startups signal a potential rebound.
🛡️ Investigative teams uncovered record-breaking ransomware payouts and new hacker tactics that shaped 2025's threat landscape.
🌱 Founders spent 4 years to build a chemical-free weed killer now tested on over 100 lawns nationwide.
🛡️ Nine standout startups are pushing the edge of cybersecurity innovation at Startup Battlefield 200.
🤝 Platforms are helping users make real-world connections, with 48% of Gen Z open to friend discovery apps in 2025.
✦
Surviving fundraising in 2026
VCs say fundraising in 2026 will be harder—and more grounded. Demos and pilots won’t be enough; investors want repeatable sales, clear ROI, and distribution that actually compounds. As AI coding becomes commoditized, defensibility shifts to proprietary data, embedded workflows, and founders with deep, lived experience. Mega-seed rounds are cooling, and Series A investors are prioritizing momentum and unit economics over vision alone.
On the market side, infrastructure and healthcare platforms remain attractive, while AI-plus-hardware and overlooked legacy sectors are reopening as capital concentrates. Liquidity pressure and a growing backlog could finally push the IPO window open—potentially beyond the U.S.—as family offices play a larger LP role. Meanwhile, crowded AI app categories are set to consolidate in a multi-model reality, with M&A and secondaries driving exits. Read more.
✦
How Dating Apps Trick you into Staying Single
Dating apps may seem like they're here to help us find love, but they actually profit when we stay single. With the dating scene evolving, we wonder: Can we still find love?
✦
Measure Twice. Cut Once.
Founders use Redrob’s Market Insights to pre-validate demand, test positioning, and uncover ICP cues early.
Let qualitative interviews with your dream clients unlock your next level of growth.
✦
🪃 Promotions fell to 10.3%; leaders can re‑recruit talent with mission, autonomy, and stability instead of titles.
🧭 Users convert when clear interface patterns guide the journey—not when UI and UX drift into separate priorities.
🧯 In a PR crisis, the first 24 hours decide the damage—stabilize fast with a PR pro’s plan in public view.
Investor Data Room Checklist
An investor data room is a storage space, digital or physical, where companies store information relevant to due diligence. We've compiled a FREE Template/Checklist of all the items your data room should include and resources and tools for obtaining them.
✦
Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays
Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.
Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.
✦
The hidden cost of the AI gold rush
For decades, data centers operated out of sight and out of mind, but by 2025 they’ve become a visible — and controversial — fixture of American life. A massive AI-driven buildout has pushed server farms into local communities, triggering protests across the country. More than 140 activist groups in 24 states are now organizing against new projects, citing environmental and health concerns, AI misuse, and rising electricity bills. Construction spending on data centers has surged more than 300% since 2021, reaching hundreds of billions of dollars, even as experts warn many proposed facilities may never be built.
The backlash is already reshaping both local politics and the tech industry’s playbook. Grassroots opposition has delayed or blocked an estimated $64 billion in projects, and anger over energy costs tied to AI infrastructure is expected to factor into the 2026 midterm elections. Communities from Michigan to California have pushed back through protests and lawsuits, while tech giants and new industry groups are mounting counter-campaigns to sell the economic benefits of data centers. With Washington backing AI as a strategic priority and Big Tech doubling down on infrastructure spending, the server boom shows no sign of slowing — but neither does the public resistance it has sparked.