JANUS SIGNAL

Welcome to this week's Signal.

This week, we dive into trending stories and practical insights, taking a closer look at what truly matters for immigrant founders: what is working, what is changing, and what is worth paying attention to.

Spotlight Theme

Brain + AI: When Thought Becomes Technology

What if your next “device” lived inside your skull?

Main Story:

Forget the idea that AI is limited to our phones, laptops, or robots. A new wave of startups is fusing brains and machines, literally. In a Forbes feature, Rob Toews highlights efforts from Neuralink, Merge Labs, and others pushing brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) toward mainstream reality.

This is not science fiction. These ventures are moving fast toward a future where neural signals and algorithms coverage, enabling thought-driven control, new modes of communication, and a deeper blend of human and machine intelligence.

Here’s what to watch:

• Neuralink vs. Merge Labs — Elon Musk’s Neuralink has been a posterchild for invasive interfaces, while Sam Altman’s Merge Labs runs a parallel effort. They compete not only for technical leadership, but also on how we should think about extending the mind.

• Invasive & Non-Invasive Approaches — Some startups aim to implant chips; others try external or wearable solutions. The sweet spot? Maximum capability with minimal risk.

• Telepathy, Typing by Thought? — As wild as it sounds, decoding intention from brainwaves may be closer than many imagine. BCIs could allow us to "speak" silently, control devices mentally, or overlay AI directly on thought.

• Human plus AI collaboration — This is not just about control, it is about symbiosis. BCIs could reshape how humans and artificial intelligence cooperate, combining intuition, speed, and insight.

By the Numbers:

Neuralink / Merge Labs = key players driving public awareness

Approaches span invasive and non-invasive tech

Future uses include silent communication, device control, AI integration

The human-AI boundary is blurring

Next time someone claims “humans vs. AI,” remind them: the greater frontier is humans with AI, and BCIs might be the bridge.

What stands out:

Prateek Joshi turns math obsession into marketplace magic - co-founding Pluto to revolutionize how we search visually online.

Real Founder: Prateek Joshi – Making Machines See What We Mean

Prateek Joshi grew up solving puzzles and chasing patterns. That early fascination with math and visual logic led him into computer vision and AI, and ultimately to founding Pluto, a startup that blends semantic + visual search to let customers find exactly what they want (even when they’re not sure how to ask).

He holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering with a focus on computer vision & machine learning, and has built scalable systems at big names like Nvidia, Microsoft Research, and Qualcomm before becoming a founder.

As an immigrant entrepreneur navigating U.S. visa constraints, he teamed with Unshackled Ventures, a fund designed to support immigrant founders, so he could focus more energy on product and growth instead of red tape.

What catches the eye?

He shifted from pure tech to product empathy: Rather than just building a powerful engine, he ensures Pluto becomes a delightful experience for shoppers.

Pluto’s search tech fuses visuals and semantics to “see intent,” not just keywords.

Just weeks after launch, Pluto reached one million API calls, a signal that the market craved what they were building.

They raised about $2.1 million in early funding from top Silicon Valley investors, validating both vision and execution.

Tools That Help

Doodle – Best for scheduling meetings

When finding a meeting time feels like herding cats, Doodle makes it simple. It lets you create and share quick polls so everyone can mark when they’re free, no endless back-and-forth emails or calendar chaos.

Clean, intuitive, and free to use, Doodle helps teams across time zones find common ground fast. Whether you’re scheduling an investor sync, product stand-up, or team coffee chat, it takes the guesswork out of “when works for you?”

Twilio Segment – The backbone of your startup’s data

If you’re building a product that depends on user behavior, you need Twilio Segment. It collects, unifies, and routes event data from every app and platform you use, for marketing, product, or analytics. Translation: your growth decisions stop being guesses and start being data-driven.

BrainStation Magazine – Where tech meets people

Formerly known as TechVibes, BrainStation Magazine explores the intersection of design, data, technology, marketing, and leadership. With deep dives into industry trends and career insights from innovators, it’s a must-read for startup founders staying sharp on what’s next in tech and digital business.

Founders’ Radar

Raising Capital? Building Bridges? This One’s for You.

Join Timothy Li, Co-Founder and CEO of LendAPI, for a live session on how to fundraise smart, build strategic partnerships, and win investor trust even in a tough market.

Hosted by JANUS Innovation Hub, this 45-minute talk followed by a 15-minute Q&A dives into the real-world playbook of a founder who has done it all, from raising venture capital to scaling fintechs and achieving successful exits.

Timothy has led ventures backed by Cohen Circle, Techstars, Plug and Play, and Interlock Capital, and now he is sharing what actually works, from the first investor email to the final term sheet.

When: Wednesday, November 19, 12 PM PST

Where: Online via Google Meet

Registration: Free, limited spots available

Great partnerships do not just fund startups, they fuel their future.

Register here.

ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)

Neurotech Frontiers Summit 2025 - Innovating Inclusion in Nashville

Last week in Nashville, the Neurotech Frontiers Summit 2025, hosted by Vanderbilt University, in partnership with The Frist Center for Autism and Innovation and JANUS Innovation Hub, convened over three days (October 10–12) under the theme “Shaping the Future of Assistive & Inclusive Technology.”

What Went Down:

Headliners included Keivan G. Stassun, Kathryn Morris, Rich Palmer, and Alexander Morris-Wood, spanning disciplines from astrophysics to education to venture investing.

Programming stretched across panels, pitches, workshops, and breakout sessions. In one track, startups in the NeuroSpark competition pitched MVPs and traction to jurors including Gregory Shepard and Aras Sheikhi.

Key panels tackled topics such as Funding Inclusive Startups, Bridging Regions in Neurodiversity Innovation, and ROI of Inclusive Design.

Embodying both visibility and accountability, the summit included voices of lived experience: neurodivergent leaders, advocacy groups, and technologists collaborating to build more equitable systems.

Highlights:

• The summit was not just about showcasing new technology, it marked a shift in the innovation landscape.

• landscape: neuroinclusive design is becoming a competitive edge, not a niche.

• The visibility of NeuroSpark pitches, cross-industry panels, and book signings underscored that founders combining mission and market are gaining attention and legitimacy.

Because in a world where accessibility often feels like an afterthought, events like these turn inclusion into innovation, and connection into capital.

Reality Check:

Europe’s AI Workforce - Building or Borrowing the Future?

Execution beats theory. Nearly 80 percent of angels are betting on founders who can execute. Artificial intelligence is crossing a line from tool to teammate. Across industries, “AI employees” are quietly taking over workflows once handled by humans: from sales outreach to logistics and financial analysis.

But here’s the catch, most of these “AI colleagues” are American-made. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta dominate not just the models but the infrastructure that powers them. Europe’s early breakthroughs, from Yann LeCun’s convolutional networks to Munich’s work on recurrent layers, now feed innovation abroad.

It’s not for lack of talent. Startups like France’s Mistral, Germany’s Langdock, and Venta AI are fighting to reclaim Europe’s role, building systems trained on European data, aligned with EU values, and ready to work within local regulations like GDPR.

The opportunity is massive. Europe’s industries, structured, process-driven, and compliance-heavy, are the perfect testbed for AI employees that can execute complex tasks autonomously and responsibly.

Pro tip: Don’t wait for “the perfect model.” Build AI workers that fit your market, not just your tech stack. Localization, legal alignment, and workflow integration will separate the leaders from the laggards.

Because if Europe doesn’t train its own AI workforce, it’ll soon be paying salaries, to American algorithms.

What We’re Tracking:

Enterprises Go All-In on AI, But Not Without Growing Pains

It’s been a headline-heavy week for enterprise AI. Zendesk rolled out new AI agents that claim to solve up to 80% of customer service issues, while Anthropic signed back-to-back deals, one with IBM and another with Deloitte. Google also entered the fray with a new AI-for-business platform, signaling that corporate AI adoption is moving from pilot projects to full deployment.

But smooth sailing? Not quite. Deloitte’s timing was awkward, their Anthropic partnership dropped the same day Australia’s Department of Employment revealed the firm had to refund fees for an AI-generated report riddled with hallucinations. The message was clear: enterprises may be eager to automate, but accountability still matters.

TechCrunch’s Equity podcast hosts noted that while consumer AI apps like OpenAI’s Sora grab headlines, enterprise AI is where the real money flows through big contracts, repeat clients, and mission-critical use cases. The challenge is making sure that what’s built in haste doesn’t undermine trust.

As AI weaves deeper into operations, from customer service to data analysis, the winners will be the companies that deploy responsibly, validate outputs, and keep humans in the loop.

Ready or not, enterprise AI is here. The question is whether it’s ready for the enterprise.

Crack This!

Answer to the last riddle: Product-market fit

Did you guess it right?

I start as a whisper, a sketch, not a slam.

I’m small, imperfect, and built to be slammed.

I ask for sharp feedback, survive on quick tests,

Prove the idea’s promise before you invest the rest.

What am I?

Closer Thought:

"The future belongs to those who start."

Keep going,

— Team JANUS

P.S. Got a small win, tooltip, or even a smart failure?