Hey builders,
This week, I’m looking to fill an amazing role.
Remote first, pays really well, and includes monthly trips to Europe…
Check out the Startup Spotlight below 👇 - it’s one of the best infra builds I’ve seen.
Anyway, this week I keep thinking about how fast the ground is shifting.
It’s still crazy to me that an AI agent is quietly doing a better job than most (not you guys, y’all are cracked) while being cheaper and never asking for a promotion.
Is AGI around the corner, or are we just getting a 🥕 dangled in front of us?
In this week’s newsletter.
New Startup Spotlight: Poolside is scaling the backbone of AI-assisted coding — and hiring backend engineers to build it.
AI News Recap: Europe crowns Mistral with €1.7B, HappyRobot raises $44M for freight agents, and Anthropic rockets to $183B valuation.
Recent Job Postings: Founding ML Engineer at Outspeed, Fullstack Engineer at Antimetal, and more.
Let’s go.
4
Engineer spots left this month
Each month, I work with a curated group of cracked 0→1 engineers. The kind founders want to hire or co-found with.
As of this issue, only 4 spots remain.
If you’re building something on the side, bored at Big Tech, or just too good to be cold applying, this is your sign.
🔍 Startup Spotlight
Poolside
Poolside is betting that software development will be the first domain where AI hits human-level capability.
Their play: turn LLMs into real developer copilots — and eventually make coding accessible to billions.
They’ve already raised $626M, are on the cusp of a Series C, and run on compute firepower that rivals the big labs.
75% of their 120-person team are engineers, led by ex-GitHub CTO Jason Warner.
The role on deck?
Backend Engineer (Remote, East Coast) — you’ll design the multi-tenant cloud + enterprise platform that sits between Poolside’s foundation models and their dev-facing products.
TL;DR
— $626M raised, Series C incoming → multi-year runway
— Build infra that powers AI-assisted software development
— Elite team (ex-GitHub, Snap, top-tier labs)
— Remote (East Coast preferred) + Paris offsites
— $165K–$290K base + equity with serious upside
Megan’s Take
Poolside feels like GitHub in 2008 — but AI-native. If they nail this, they don’t just make devs faster; they could unlock coding for billions who’ve never shipped a line before.
🤖 AI / Industry Recap
🇪🇺 Mistral Hits €10B with ASML on the Cap Table
Europe’s AI darling just closed a €1.7B Series C, led by chip giant ASML, who also grabbed a board seat. Mistral is now Europe’s most valuable AI startup at a $11.7B valuation.
🚚 HappyRobot Raises $44M to Automate Freight
San Francisco’s HappyRobot is building AI agents for shipping ops—negotiating rates, scheduling freight, and already counting DHL and Flexport as customers. Ten-fold revenue growth since 2024.
💰 Anthropic Soars to $183B Valuation
A fresh $13B Series F put Anthropic in rare air: $5B+ annual run-rate, 300K+ customers, and Claude Code alone throwing off half a billion in revenue.
Megan’s Take
Mistral getting ASML money is Europe saying, “fine, we’ll build our own OpenAI.” It’s not about models, it’s about sovereignty. And Anthropic at $183B? That’s a crazy trajectory. The scary part is how fast the revenue is compounding… Feels reminiscent of AWS back in 2010.
Recent job posting in
NewYork
jobTitle Fullstack Engineer_
{
// TLDR: Build and own product features end-to-end — from backend APIs to polished React interfaces. Lead ambiguous projects, partner with design + platform, and shape the core product experience.
// Company: Antimetal;
// Location: New York City (On-site);
// Base: $220k – $270k + competitive equity;
// Funding: ~$20M raised;
}
OUTPUT:
Recent job posting in
SanFrancisco
jobTitle Founding ML Engineer_
{
// TLDR: Design and scale the real-time voice model infra that powers emotionally intelligent voice interfaces for therapy, coaching, gaming, and more. Ultra-low latency, expressive ML, and direct ownership with the founding team.
// Company: Outspeed;
// Location: San Francisco (On-site);
// Base: $140k – $250k (Equity: 0.5% – 2%);
// Funding: Early stage, strong traction, led by ex-MIT, Google, Microsoft;
}
OUTPUT:
Recent job posting in
SanFrancisco
jobTitle Senior Infra Engineer_
{
// TLDR: Build and own auto-scaling infra for RL training systems used by frontier labs + hyperscalers. High-agency role working with Nomad/Hashicorp/Kubernetes to push the limits of scaling agents.
// Company: Fleet;
// Location: San Francisco (On-site);
// Base: $450K+;
// Funding: $15M raised from BCV, Sequoia, Menlo Ventures, SV Angel;
}
OUTPUT:
Not seeing the right fit?
Tell me what you’re looking for and I’ll try to match you with something better.
You can also email me for details on any role — or //refer_a_friend and earn $5,000 if they get hired.
AMA
Question:
Meg, (I’ve just graduated), and I keep hearing about “founding engineer” roles, but they all sound like 60/80-hour weeks for equity that may never be worth anything. How do you know when it’s actually worth the leap?
Answer:
The truth is, you don’t. That’s why it feels like a leap.
But here’s the filter I use:
Does the team have earned insight — not just hype, but actual scars or breakthroughs in the space?
Will you get to own core systems, or are you just a glorified IC with a shiny title?
If the company fails in 18 months, will you walk away a sharper engineer than you are today?
If two out of three are yes, the risk isn’t wasted. The upside might not be the equity — it might be becoming the kind of engineer who can raise your own seed round next time.
— This question was from Kuberan.
Send me your question by replying to this email.
💡
Thought Prompt of the Week
If the next five years of your career were guaranteed to succeed, would you still be doing what you’re doing right now — or would you be building something entirely different?
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I wasn’t even planning to leave my job, but Megan showed me a role that lined up way too perfectly to ignore. It was a super smooth process and would recommend anyone thinking about a switch to go with Meg.