As CEO of @ProjectEurope_ , a €10M founder-led fund started by @HarryStebbings and backed by more than 200 of Europe’s top founders, including builders from @Klarna, @synthesiaIO, @ElevenLabs, and @MistralAI, @Kitty_Mayo_ is on a mission to rebuild the continent’s confidence.

You don't need to be in SF to be a successful founder. Infact, building in Europe is much better. Here's why London > SF to build a company 🧵

Most founders are not burned out because they work too much. They’re burned out because they’re run by a story they don’t even know they’re telling themselves.

Listen now on any podcast platform or watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://t.co/OR46K6czRo 👀

→ Why Europe’s biggest barrier is not capital, it is permission: permission to be audacious, from others and from yourself. → The way Project Europe works differently, from cruising through Sweden in a Volvo to co-working in other founders’ offices across Europe. & much more!

@ProjectEurope_ funds exceptional builders under 25 and helps them go all in on ambition. In this week’s @followgradient episode, we talk about: → How a random LinkedIn DM turned into Project Europe in weeks. → The traits that reveal truly high-agency founders.

“The biggest thing holding young founders in Europe back? Permission.” That sentence says everything about what @Kitty_Mayo_ is trying to change.

@sama

this came to me in a dream

This Thursday on @followgradient, we go behind that headline: • How @elvisnavah turned a PhD project into a company • How he raised deep-tech capital in a market still learning to back embodied AI • And how he overcame what he calls “the European shyness”

When @elvisnavah said, ‘the only way the research could even be done was the company,’ we knew we had to talk.

Big thanks to Florian, Patrick, Dominika, Jacqueline, and the entire @HeilbronnSlushD team for an incredible event. 👏👏👏

Many of these themes also came up in our recent @followgradient with @andreasklinger, co-initiator of @euinc_petition. If you care about Europe’s startup ecosystem, it’s a must-listen:

3️⃣ Why compliance can become an advantage If you bake it into your product and governance early, it boosts credibility – and can even become a competitive edge.

2️⃣ How startups can make their voices heard From national associations like @FRdigitale or @KiVerband , to European platforms – engaging early means influencing the rules before they’re written. (Here in Switzerland, the @SSA_Startups_CH plays a key role.)

Here are the three biggest takeaways from our discussion 👇 1️⃣ Why regulation matters to founders It directly shapes revenue, governance, and investor trust. Ignoring it means flying blind.

Huge thanks to the sharp and honest panelists who made my job easy: @HidalgoAgata, European Affairs Lead @FRdigitale @dabbou, Managing Director @KiVerband Gabriele Mazzini, MIT affiliate & architect of the EU AI Act Olivia Marcu-Iordănescu, founder at spotlegal

Last week I moderated “Who is shaping Europe’s startup policy?” at @HeilbronnSlushD Policy may sound like the least sexy topic for founders – but this panel proved why it’s central to startup success.

Got a call to moderate a panel just a few days before it happened. A great reminder: preparation is only half the job – the other half is flexibility.

AI is reshaping how teams work, how leaders lead, and how trust gets built. What happens to culture in the middle of that shift? New @followgradient episode drops tomorrow with Noa Perry-Reifer - former CPO at @on_running, now at @NekoHealth! Be ready to tune in!