Douglas Lawson

Oaktree just posted a job for “SVP, Head of AI” with a base salary of up to $225,000. This is one of the largest investment firms in the world, with over $200 billion in assets under management, hiring for what will be one of the most consequential roles of the decade… at a compensation level barely competitive with mid-level engineers at OpenAI or Anthropic. The mismatch says everything. AI will reshape every layer of capital markets, from risk modeling to deal sourcing to asset pricing. It’s not a “tech add-on.” It’s the new foundation of value creation. OpenAI and xAI are paying $800K–$1.5M for senior AI engineers. Meta reportedly offered nearly $1 billion in total compensation to poach top AI researchers from rivals. Even Disney offered more for its “VP of Collaboration and AI”. Meanwhile, legacy finance still views AI as an IT function rather than a strategic capability. That gap is the opportunity. The next era of investment firms will be built by those who see AI not as a tool, but as the strategy itself.

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SCOOP: Graphcore CEO to launch deeptech VC fund --- Graphcore founder and CEO Nigel Toon is set to launch a new growth-stage deeptech fund, following a bruising year for the sector in Europe that saw a number of darlings fall by the wayside. Toon, who is still chief at the AI chip maker following its acquisition by SoftBank last year, is launching the vehicle with Ekaterina Almasque, who was previously general partner at Finnish VC OpenOcean, according to Companies House filings. The new fund is called BlankPage Capital, will launch in 2025 and invest at growth stages in the UK and Europe, according to a company website seen by Sifted. A pop-up on the site invites LP investors and deeptech companies to get in touch. While Europe boasts world-leading research institutions, commercialising science-based technology has proved difficult in the region. In 2024, a number of once hyped unicorns, including EV maker Arrival, electric plane startup Lillium and battery company Northvolt all filed for bankruptcy. Full story: https://lnkd.in/e2R86TWv

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🚀 Big news from FirstPartyCapital Today we are proud to announce the launch of FirstPartyFinance, our new solution to help founders access the flexible, non-dilutive capital they need to scale. For too long, innovation in our sector has been held back by slow payment terms and a lack of understanding by traditional financial institutions. FirstPartyFinance aims to change that by connecting ad tech and digital media companies with debt solutions that increase cash flow, fuel growth, and allow founders to maintain more control and ownership of their companies. This marks the third pillar of our support model for adtech businesses: • FirstPartyCapital: direct investment in high-growth companies • FirstPartyStudio: strategic incubation and operational support • FirstPartyFinance: debt financing Delighted to be working with my former FastPay colleague, James Ryall, to launch this new business unit! FirstPartyFinance will serve companies both inside and outside the FPC equity portfolio, and seeks to provide global coverage including the US, UK, Europe, APAC, and Brazil. The goal is simple: Adtech vendors and publishers the liquidity they need to compete and innovate at a time of huge change in the industry. 👉 If you are building in adtech or digital media and want to explore how this can support your growth, we’d love to talk. #AdTech #VC #Innovation #FirstPartyFinance #FirstPartyCapital #FirstPartyStudio #lending #debtfinance

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"I could be the Lionel Messi of mining, but ..." Hg's Nic Humphries shares advice for young and old people about what to learn or study in the age of AI. Watch the entire conversation on Alt Goes Mainstream here: https://lnkd.in/erQGkAMK

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Here’s a harsh truth: fundraising today is slow, costly, and unfairly tilted towards the well-connected. You know what I’m talking about. We’ve all seen it again and again.   Europe has brilliant founders with bold ideas, yet too many fail before they even get a fair chance. And don’t get me wrong, it’s not because they lack vision, but because the fundraising system is outdated. CORE changes that. Because founders get a digital co-pilot that levels the playing field: AI guidance, investor-ready decks, early visibility, and rounds live in under 72 hours.  For the cost of a dinner, every founder now has access to the tools, structure, and visibility once reserved for a few. The real cost isn’t trying, it’s waiting. This isn’t about building another tool. It’s about building Europe’s private market infrastructure, where preparation, raising, and managing capital become accessible to all. 👉 This is how we level the field: https://lnkd.in/dsYhQqnp

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