"Excited to announce" that LinkedIn has officially become a social platform
⊹ A spark of Genius ⊹ Circe's spell book of ideas, people, and opportunities, curated to enchant your week
⊹ THE CIRCE BRIEF ⊹
You know how when you're bored you subconsciously click into an app (Instagram, TikTok, X, whatever your vice) without even realizing what you're doing? Recently I've found myself reaching for LinkedIn. I'll be three posts deep before I even register what app I'm in.
LinkedIn has officially become a social platform. The "thrilled to announce" posts are still there, but they're outnumbered now by thought leadership, AI commentary, hot takes, founder confessionals. I actually enjoy a lot of it, even as I eye-roll past every "it's not this, it's that" post. AI slop is the new #1 ick.
We're wrapping up our MBAs, which means the job hunt is top of mind. We knew it would be hard, but it’s even harder than we imagined.
The reality of finding work on LinkedIn is bleak. Every halfway-decent role has 2,000+ applicants by the time you see it. The startup opportunities we’d actually want are almost never on there. The data backs up what every job seeker already feels.
LinkedIn now averages roughly 11,000 applications every minute, a 45% jump in a single year, with generative AI driving most of the surge. In Q3 of 2024 alone, applications rose 45.5% while jobs posted on LinkedIn dropped 10.6%. More people chasing fewer roles. AI agents auto-submitting on one side, AI filters auto-rejecting on the other. Has applying on traditional job boards become completely pointless?
Maybe not pointless, but close. A Pinpoint analysis of 4.5 million applications found referred candidates are seven times more likely to be hired than people coming in through job boards. Ashby's data goes further: inbound applicants today get offers at a rate of about two in a thousand, a roughly 70% drop in just a few years. It makes sense that founders are posting $10k bounties for a single referral.
And, call us conspiracy theorists, but we can’t help but feel like LinkedIn’s revenue benefits when job seekers spend more time on their platform. So feeling like applying is easier but seeing less traction on each application sounds less like purely a by-product of AI, and more like business strategy.
The job market has moved to DMs and warm intros.
More on that soon.
-Isa and Anna ⊹
⊹ CIRCE DEALFLOW
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Raising: Pre-Seed
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⊹ TALENT MOVES
⊹ CIRCE MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Alyson is the founder of Offseason, a wellness AI agent designed to make health and self-care more personalized, proactive, and seamlessly woven into our busy days. As an ex-athlete, she noticed that the broader wellness market largely catered to beginners, and left the health enthusiast with little to no support.
Before founding, Alyson honed her product instincts at Meta, where she worked across some of the most transformative technology of our time: GenAI, ads, and VR. Now, she's channeling all of it into Offseason. Her platform is at the intersection of AI, consumer wellness, and technology that works as your personal wellness assistant. Join the waitlist now!
⟡ EVENTS
MNT Pilates with Female Founders | MAY 19
Circe and Slash are taking over MNTSTUDIO's Marina studio for a private Pilates class, followed by wine, charcuterie, and easy conversation upstairs
Dinner Party for Women in AI + DeepTech | MAY 26
Join 20 of the most compelling women building in AI and deeptech; Space is limited.
Al Dente: Founder-Investor pasta-making | JUN 24
Investors: Come make pasta from the creators of Flour+Water, and bring your favorite female founder with you.
See our entire Calendar of events here!
⊹Opportunity: For the technical ladies:
Applications are now open for the 2026 Lilly Grand Challenge: Aging Reimagined — $100K in non-dilutive funding for founders building in mobility, cognition, immune resilience, or regenerative medicine. Deadline May 15. Apply here.
.⊹ Grab Coffee With Us ⊹
Anna Gurney
Circe, Berkeley MBA/MPH, Chief of Staff @ Aura Finance
Topics: Early stage investing, Women’s Health, HealthTech, VC ecosystem, and building founder networks.
⊹ BOOK TIME
Isa D’Elia
Circe, Berkeley MBA, Bizdev and GTM @ Kenley (YC ‘24)
Topics: Applied AI, HR Tech, 0→1 product strategy, and building systems that help teams move faster.
⊹ BOOK TIME
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We know you’re juggling a million things and life moves far too fast. But in the middle of it all, we want to take a moment and recognize how awesome you are and make sure you’re always in the loop!
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Thank you for joining us in this journey of creation and empowerment.
