Hey — It’s Charlie.

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

• The Startup Lie: You Don’t Need Venture Capital

• Survey: How Tech workers really feel about work right now.

• Vibe Coding: How to get most of it.

• The $500 Hack: Your Startup Doesn’t Need a Fancy Name—Just a Working Credit Card Limit

• 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!

Resources

• The state of B2B monetization in 2025. (LINK)

• More or Less: The three pricing strategies. (LINK)

• How to fight back against AI tourists (LINK)

• David Politis on doing whatever it takes to stay in the game (LINK)

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

ICYMI

• The Browser Company launches its AI-first browser, Dia. (LINK)

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

• Anthropic’s Claude can now read your Gmail. (LINK)

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

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

Quick Links

• 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!

VC Isn’t the Goal — Building Is.

Most founders assume venture capital is the golden ticket, but here’s the kicker: only 4,400 U.S. startups raise VC each year—out of millions. The vast majority? They bootstrap, hustle, and grow on revenue alone. Why? Because VC is designed for a tiny sliver of businesses—the ones chasing billion-dollar scale at all costs. If that’s not you, that’s not a failure—it’s a sign to play a different game. The fastest-growing private companies? Most never took a dime from Sand Hill Road.

So instead of burning months pitching, focus on proving your idea works. Sell before you build. Run scrappy tests. Get creative with micro-funding, revenue-based financing, or partnerships. The best founders don’t wait for permission (or a wire transfer)—they find the shortest path to validation. VC might be an option later—or never. Either way, real businesses are built by solving real problems, not just raising rounds. Stop comparing yourself to the VC hype. Your path is legit.  (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.