Dear all,

I spent a wild week in Las Vegas and San Francisco last week, visiting one of the best conferences in the world — HLTH USA, delivered by one of our investors, John Weiner, and his team. Here are a couple of takeaways:

Several of our US investor friends believe that the AI bubble won’t burst anytime soon. “Maybe in 2–3 years,” they say. Given the historically high price-to-earnings ratio of 39 on the NASDAQ, I wouldn’t bet my money on this now.

There’s a lot of optimism about the AI application layer in the Valley — especially when it’s built around proprietary data. Whether it’s for factories, warehouses, operations teams, or customer service. These companies are also strong acquisition targets for the large hyperscalers and enterprises.

At the same time, there is growing doubt about the massive spending on the AI infrastructure layer. US private investors aim to invest amounts that could reach up to 10% of Germany’s GDP annually in AI — much of it directed toward chips and data centers. While this infrastructure will likely be needed, it’s becoming increasingly unclear whether these investments will truly pay off.

On the way back from the US, I read Brad Feld’s recent book “Give First” — an easy read, even for a short trip. Brad has embodied this mindset for decades. In his words, Give First is:

“You put energy into a relationship or system while taking the transactional elements out of the equation. This is, however, not altruism. You should expect to get something back — but you don’t know when, from whom, in what form, or within what timeframe.”

During our last fundraise over the summer, I saw many great examples of this Give First mindset in Europe — René Obermann, Flo Heinemann, Hendrik Brandis, and some others come to mind. But there still aren’t enough of them. Too often in Europe, the first question is still, “What’s in it for me?” — or, worse, there’s no response at all.

Why don’t we try trusting each other more — giving more to each other? Whether it’s advice, introductions, or capital — whatever you can spare. Give before you get.

That’s one reason why I often finish conversations with the question: “Is there anything else I can do for you?” — and I encourage everyone to do the same.

Enjoy this week’s Deep Tech Now,

Martin

Just show up where other founders show up. You'll be shocked at how much you get from spending some time with other founders at the earliest stages, especially when you feel like you're in survival mode.

Everyone is in survival mode, and just being together and understanding what other people are dealing with and figuring out how to be helpful to them will cause them to be helpful to you.

I've been able to intellectually separate between giving time, giving money, giving wisdom, and giving support. They are very different things.

Often, every philosophy has problems. Give First has significant ones, especially around boundaries. If you don't set the boundaries properly, it can be exhausting to have a Give First philosophy. 

A lot of people also misinterpret the idea that "give first" is something that you have to do all the time, rather than as a portion of the approach to your life. I've literally had people say things to me like, "Oh, you're that Give First VC. Just give me some money, and I'll give you something later on after I'm successful." Well, it's nonsensical. Some people interpret it that way. Understanding the boundaries, how to set them, and being clear about them is critical.

There are many, and the beauty of it is I don't want to even mention them.

It's a philosophy, not a religion. 

A religion has a whole bunch of rules, and if you follow the rules, then, theoretically, good things happen to you, independent of whatever your religious tradition is. 

A philosophy is something that you incorporate into the way you live. It doesn't take over your life, and you challenge philosophies and constantly learn and evolve them, but they provoke you to think about how you are approaching the world and your life.

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This week's ecosystem gift ties it all together: we're giving away 5 copies of Brad Feld's 'Give First: The Power of Mentorship'. It's the full philosophy—beyond the headlines—grounded in the decades Brad has spent building Techstars and shaping how we think about community.

Read it to understand not just what Give First means, but how to live it.

→ To enter: reply to this email with 'Give First.'’ Five lucky readers will get a physical copy.

Last Week’s Winner: Congratulations, Théo Albertini! You've won a mentoring session with executive coach Renita Kalhorn, your soon-to-be guide for leading with emotional intelligence (EQ).