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Build the Product. Sell the Product. Delay Everything Else

Why the Leanest Founders Usually Win

February 04, 2026

In partnership with

Hey — It’s Charlie.

Welcome to the latest edition of Great Startups! Here’s what’s in store:

  • Fact: The Hidden Cost of Trying to Look Legit

  • From PMF to Scale: The Founder’s Playbook for Performance Culture

  • Solution: Do you have a demand problem?

  • Question: Why pitches fail (and a template that will fix yours).

  • Targeting Made Simple: A step-by-step guide to finding your perfect customer.

  • Hidden Startup Debt: The silent killer that’s slowing growth.

Get ready to dive into these power-packed insights for founders and growth enthusiasts!

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Resources

  • How to understand customers (LINK)

  • Sales problems vs. product-market fit problems (LINK)

  • Do you have a demand problem? (LINK)

  • Why pitches fail (and a template that will fix yours). (LINK)

  • Sam Blond on how to generate more demand. (LINK)

ICYMI

  • Google Is A $4T Company That’s Still In The Startup Game (LINK)

  • Netflix is getting into short videos with a new vertical feed for mobile. (LINK)

  • Cloudflare launches a marketplace that lets websites charge AI bots for scraping. (LINK)

  • The WordPress vs. WP Engine drama, explained. (LINK)

  • 1X will test humanoid robots in ‘a few hundred’ homes in 2025. (LINK)

  • Ray Dalio built a $14B empire by following core success principles that took him from humble beginnings to founding the world’s largest hedge fund.

  • Iman Gadzhi and Pierre de Preux launched a SaaS and hit 7-figure ARR in 9 months by moving fast, using Iman’s audience, and solving a real problem.

  • Lenny Rachitsky and Jen Abel on how to approach founder-led sales.

  • Carta shares 50 slides packed with insights for founders from 45,000 startups.

  • How One AI App Founder Makes $20K+ Monthly—and How You Can Too!

Recently Funded / Raised

  • Moniepoint raised $323M to expand its business banking, credit, and payments platform for enterprises across Africa and beyond.

  • Knownwell raised $50.6M to enhance its AI-powered commercial intelligence platform that helps businesses identify risks and growth opportunities.

  • Alto Neuroscience raised $301M to develop AI-driven precision medicines targeting mental health conditions.

  • CoMind raised $87M to advance noninvasive neural interfaces that connect the human brain with artificial intelligence.

  • Anrok raised $109.3M to streamline sales tax compliance for SaaS businesses through automation.

  • Findem raised $88.3M to grow its AI-powered Talent Data Cloud that automates and unifies enterprise hiring workflows.

  • Finster AI raised $16.8M to build an AI-driven research platform for asset managers and investment banks.

  • Africa Finance Corporation secured $6.78B in debt financing to fund large-scale infrastructure and industrial investments across Africa.

  • Niron Magnetics received a $171.6M grant to develop high-performance, rare-earth-free permanent magnets using Iron Nitride technology.

  • Cala Health raised $248.3M to advance its wearable bioelectronic therapies for neurological and chronic diseases.

Like these? Imagine getting an xls of 1000 - 2000 recently funded startups every month - with emails - for only $99/mo → https://leadbites.com/funded-startups-list/

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The Hidden Tax on Looking Professional Too Early

A lot of companies don’t collapse because of bad ideas. They slowly bleed out by spending on things that feel productive but change nothing. Airbnb choosing a $178 camera over a $5,000 PR firm is the perfect example. That one decision bought time, and time unlocked everything else. Early founders don’t need polish or optics. They need momentum, and momentum only comes from product and distribution.

The uncomfortable truth is that survival beats sophistication. Money should flow into building something people want and getting it in front of them, not into teams, tools, or structure built for an imaginary future. The strongest startups behave like organisms under pressure. They stay lean, cut distractions, and double down on what keeps them alive. If a cost doesn’t improve the product or bring in customers, it’s probably shortening your runway without you noticing. (LINK)

Ok that’s it for this week, We keep refining our newsletter content, just hit reply to let us know what you think about this issue.