Jo Deforce

Customer lover/Creator and activator of brands/ Driving experience by 'Walk the talk'

[Claude @claudeai]

Claude is built to be a genuinely helpful assistant for work and for deep thinking.

Advertising would be incompatible with that vision.

Read why Claude will remain ad-free: https://t.co/Dr8FOJxINC

[Slush @SlushHQ]

It’s 2°C in Helsinki, and the sun sets before 4 PM. But over the next few days, Helsinki will become something else entirely: Slush 2025 is here.

This past year has been one of the most exciting and ambiguous I’ve seen in tech. Markets have been volatile, AI is reshaping everything, and many founders are building in uncharted territory. Slush exists for moments like these: when the world feels ambiguous, the right people come together in the same room to figure it out.

This year, Slush brings together more early-stage founders and venture capital than ever before. Over 6,000 startups have made their way here, alongside investors managing +€4 trillion in assets. We’ve never pulled together a more relevant crowd, and what happens next depends entirely on what you choose to do with it.

Whether this is your first Slush or your tenth, I hope the week gives you something valuable: a conversation that shifts your thinking, a connection that leads to funding, or just a little more clarity on what you want to build next.

And don’t underestimate the moments you can’t plan for. Often, the best parts of Slush are the unexpected ones: the chat in the coffee queue, the person you sit next to by chance, or a quick story shared before a meeting. That’s why I recommend you stay open, talk to a stranger, and share what you’re working on.

Slush changed my life when I was 15. If you show up fully, it might just change yours, too.

Thanks for being here, and welcome to Slush 2025.

– Aino
CEO at Slush

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

Anthropic dropped the best free masterclass on prompt engineering

[Anthropic @AnthropicAI]

We've raised $13 billion at a $183 billion post-money valuation.

This investment, led by @ICONIQCapital, will help us expand our capacity, improve model capabilities, and deepen our safety research.

[Execution @Execution_VC]

Commercial adoption of AI agents will be slower than people expect.

Why?

- Agents need structured spaces to learn—they won't be perfect off the bat.
- In some "ideal" use cases, the ROI is fuzzy & humans still need to stay in the loop.

Cool demos ≠ enterprise readiness.

[Anthropic @AnthropicAI]

New Anthropic research: Tracing the thoughts of a large language model.

We built a "microscope" to inspect what happens inside AI models and use it to understand Claude’s (often complex and surprising) internal mechanisms.

[Jo Deforce @BeneJo]

https://t.co/0tLNXP4E1h

[Jo Deforce @BeneJo]

https://t.co/VOcIpf9pUK

[Jo Deforce @BeneJo]

https://t.co/ivUGC2PStz

[Jo Deforce @BeneJo]

https://t.co/y1BOPLPO2Z

[Jo Deforce @BeneJo]

https://t.co/12ZFgP3Vng

[Jo Deforce @BeneJo]

https://t.co/2nFgWOjgos

[Jo Deforce @BeneJo]

#club; contrats!

[DP World Tour @DPWorldTour]

Darius Van Driel wins the Magical Kenya Open 🏆

#MKO2024

[DP World Tour @DPWorldTour]

Eagle
Bogey
Birdie

@DariusvanDriel has the putter working and opens up a two shot lead at the top 💪

#MKO2024

[Jo Deforce @BeneJo]

Weet jij nog wanneer je je hebt geregistreerd bij X? Ik wel! #MyXAnniversary

[Jo Deforce @BeneJo]

"Kapster Patricia (52) knipt gratis het haar van wie het minder breed heeft: “Met een goed gevoel het nieuwe jaar in”" das nog eens een goede daad. https://t.co/1wtJqsVbkw

[Jo Deforce @BeneJo]

Subscribe to 20VC https://t.co/h0tuo6R3xW

[Web Summit @WebSummit]

Welcome to Day 1 of #WebSummit! 🚀

[Web Summit @WebSummit]

#WebSummit is now open! 🎉

Thank you to all the speakers who joined us for Opening Night. Looking forward to seeing you all for Day 1 of Web Summit tomorrow.

[VRT NWS @vrtnws]

Dank dat je bij ons was: voormalig journaalanker en boegbeeld van de nieuwsdienst Martine Tanghe is overleden https://t.co/OCmE2IvhzD #vrtnws