Becca Szkutak
@rebecca_szkutak
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Senior writer @TechCrunch , co-host @Found , rotating host @equity BBQ Betch, 2001 Coldplay apologist, Pilates teacher She/her
Brooklyn, NY
Joined February 2016
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A quick reminder that if you are looking to get in touch with me for TechCrunch-related things please just email me!
I promise I will miss your LinkedIn message, your email to my personal inbox, your Twitter DM etc. but I open everything that comes to my work email!
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✨Some personal news✨ I'm ~thrilled~ to report that today is my first day as a senior writer
@TechCrunchPlus
covering venture capital and startups. You can reach me at: rebecca.szkutak[at]techcrunch[dot]com 😌😇
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Good morning to everyone except the guy in my mentions suggesting women received less VC funding in 2020 simply because there weren't any good women-founded companies trying to raise last year LOL
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Today marks ✨ one year ✨for me at
@Forbes
! Let's celebrate together by you sending me your best scoop 😇
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Sorry if it now takes me even longer to respond to your emails lol
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Don't any of you dare pitch me some random SaaS funding round today
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Hey PR people, if you give a different reporter an exclusive on a story, don't pitch it to me under embargo. Reporters respect other reporters/publications and that is not cool.
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Some ~personal news~ I'm excited to announce I'll be joining
@Forbes
as a venture reporter in February! 😇😇
Even better: to help build out our
#ForbesMidas
newsletter and work with me covering VC,
@rebecca_szkutak
is joining us from Venture Capital Journal, starting in Feb!
Give her a follow -- and please let us know what kind of coverage you'll want to see from us moving forward 🙏
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Wanted to flag that I do not take meetings or calls with PR folks to talk about what I'm interested in or my future coverage plans.
I don't write off of PR pitches so these are not a good use of my time — or yours!
✨ It's not personal!✨
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Please, please, please if you are going to pitch a women-founded startup actually tell me what they do as opposed to the whole pitch centering on how little funding women entrepreneurs get. I promise I know those numbers and chances are I don't know the company.
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A little 💥professional news💥 you can now catch me alongside
@etherington
on
@found
🎙️chatting with startup founders about how and why they built their businesses.
We have some awesome stuff coming up so make sure you are subscribed so you can stay in the know🔥
Season 2 of Found is here! We're so excited to introduce you to our new co-host
@rebecca_szkutak
. She's a finance reporter for TC+ and one of the smartest people we know. Check out her first episode with Valentina Milanova from
@MeetDaye
.
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While this very website would make it seem like the VC market is saturated with new micro VC funds, it's not, there are less actually. But the new micro funds ~are~ different, and it makes sense that they are grabbing your attention. I dive into why ⬇️
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🚨 Excited to share that my first story for
@Forbes
is live! It looks at non-profit Astia's new fund which is targeting $100 million to invest in startups that have women in positions of leadership or influence.
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If you see someone make a snarky post today saying that you don't need to post your Spotify wrapped because "no one cares" know that they are wrong and you absolutely have to post it because I want to see it
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VCs!! I want to hear from you! I'm working on an EOY investor survey in an attempt to get 2023 predictions that aren't the same 3 things I keep reading on this very website
Send me an email if you are interested: rebecca[dot]szkutak[at]techcrunch[dot]com
No PR pitches pls!😀
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If anyone was wondering how broken VC PR is, here is a great example of a real email a PR rep sent to my personal email this morning, a Saturday, to harass me into doing something for her. My mom died of cancer. You are a monster.
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ICYMI: VCs are are not sitting out this year like many have said.
Instead, they are funding companies that haven't been formed yet, backing their friends — and of course Adam Neumann — in what seems like a quest to back anything that doesn't require real due diligence ⬇️
banger from
@rebecca_szkutak
-- Amid record dry powder, VCs are determined to fund anything but you
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Women-led VC firms report that LPs and startups frequently make assumptions about how they invest because they are female founded.
This doesn't just hurt these funds though, it creates a ripple effect that leaves a mark on the whole industry.
Here's why w/
@nmasc_
⬇️
Here's a quiet conversation in venture capital that has only grown louder in recent months: bias is a branding issue for some female VCs.
w/
@rebecca_szkutak
:
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Y'all aren't seriously in my inbox rn following up with me about scheduling some random intro call laisghasigh;aosdhf
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Used the cash I won on a scratch ticket to do my laundry today ✨ follow me for more expert money-saving tips 🤑
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.
@contrarycapital
raises $75 million for Fund III just five months after closing on $20 million for Fund II. “We feel that we’ve cracked that nut,”
@etarczynski
says. “We decided to go for it and start growing the firm a little faster.” 💰⬇️
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Day ♾ of traveling: A waiter just brought me what I thought was an innovative dessert, I immediately threw it in my mouth and quickly discovered it was a towel to wipe my hands
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For some firms, last year offered a sign that it was time to take crypto seriously, But for
@jumpcapital
, 2020 validated the crypto strategy it had been deploying for six years. It just raised $350 million for Fund 7 and plans to put 40% toward crypto🪙💰
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.
@crunchbase
is a hub for funding round and company data, but it's also much more than that. The company has been quietly building a sales prospecting software since 2016 that now counts more than 60,000 paying users and is driving millions in ARR 💰💻
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Landing in the top spot on the first ever
#MidasSeed
list is
@ZhenFund
CEO and founding partner
@annafanghamm
. Fang has built a portfolio of seed stakes in more than 30 🦄 companies. Learn more about how she did it and why she's still hungry 💰⬇️
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I just arrived in Mumbai and am at the hotel bar for food and the table next to me is literally talking about startup equity because I truly will never know peace
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.
@SupermoonCap
raises $36 million for its debut fund focused on sleep and the "night market." The fund will invest in early-stage startups across sectors that impact how we sleep. 💸💤
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Hey women-identifying founders! I want to hear from you about the crazy things you heard and questions you got asked from male VCs while fundraising this year for a story 🔥 rebecca[dot]szkutak[at]techcrunch[dot]com
No PR outreach please.
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Pleasure speaking with
@dom_zane
about
@around_hq
on Around for
@Forbes
. The collaboration software that is meant to serve as a communication layer, as opposed to a conferencing tool, enters public beta today:
💰⬇️
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.
@186Ventures
launches with its debut $37 million early-stage fund. The firm was founded by two
@DraftKings
alumni who decided to formalize their angel investing 💰⬇️
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From starting a hedge fund in his dorm to being one of the first checks into
@RobinhoodApp
,
@SerikIman
has built a notable track record. His firm
@ElefundVC
is announcing its second fund with $30 million 🐘💰
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PSA: Stop messaging me on LinkedIn! I promise I won't see it! I'm literally begging you to just email me
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The audacity of my neighbors to be grilling and chilling with beers in full view of my desk rn like I hope 😡 you 😡 are 😡 having 😡 fun
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.
@crossbeamvc
raises $70 million for Fund II in a three-week rapid-fire raise. The New York-based firm targets pre-seed through Series A opportunities in capital intensive businesses. It already counts nine profitable companies in its portfolio 💪💰
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Meet
@Peachtree_Fund
the first student-run venture firm that exclusively backs underrepresented entrepreneurs 🍑💰💥
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.
@aunder
's startup Nearby, which creates online marketplaces for local businesses by locality, raises a $21 million Series A round to expand into new markets. 💵💻
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👀👀
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In today's venture market, who can be a value-add investor is more open-ended than ever.
@alexisohanian
decided to find some of these outsiders with valuable skill sets and domain expertise and help them get started in venture 🚀💰
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The past year has seen a rise in women spinning out of venture firms to launch their own. Many are doing so because they saw an investing opportunity too good to ignore:
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Analysis from
@Capchase
found that SaaS startups that doubled down on sales and marketing in this year's uncertain market are actually faring better than those that made cuts — which doesn't align with the advice you are hearing from most VCs 💰⬇️
SaaS startups that ignored VC advice to cut sales and marketing were better off this year by
@rebecca_szkutak
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Really don't understand the PR pitch process that's like "I saw you covered this thing....want to cover literally the exact same thing but with MY client??" tempting!
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Venture capital firms are slowly integrating data into their deal sourcing. The firms that do say it has helped them find strong companies they wouldn't have considered otherwise.
This could be instrumental in breaking down the industry's network-first approach ⬇️💰
Slowly but surely, data is helping VCs look beyond networks for sourcing deals by
@rebecca_szkutak
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Atlanta-based
@zaneventurefund
holds its first close on its $25 million target after securing notable investors like
@BankofAmerica
@ArlanWasHere
and Atlanta Emerging Managers Inc. 💪🏼💰
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Today marks one year with our girl 😇 she’s gotten a bit bigger 🥲
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Love that I still get pitches for Interview Magazine where I was an unpaid intern in 2017
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Kind of crazy that there are 50 startups looking to democratize access to the private markets and somehow all of them are the first and the only ??? 🧐
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Pleasure speaking with
@LorenStraub
last week about being promoted to partner
@BoweryCapital
and helping the firm open its first West Coast office. 🌅💰
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Pro-rata has been cutthroat over the last few years, but at least it was predictable. In today's cooling venture market, it is anything but 📉💰
First story for✨
@TechCrunchPlus
✨😇
Pro-rata is easier to get than ever today, but investors are thinking twice by
@rebecca_szkutak
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🚨Big news Found fans!🚨 While it's been great to share the mic with
@etherington
I'm really excited for this new chapter.
@DominicMadori
is already killing it 🔥 and I can't wait to see where the show can go from here 📈💰💃🏻
We've got some big news! After nearly two years and 107 episodes,
@etherington
is leaving Found (but not TechCrunch! You can still catch him over at The TechCrunch Pod) We're thrilled to introduce you to our new co-host,
@TechCrunchPlus
reporter
@DominicMadori
! Welcome, Dom!👏👏
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Addiction and substance abuse has been a consistently growing problem in and outside the U.S.
@QuitGenius
hopes to help. The digital treatment startup just raised $64 million to keep expanding its program and adding to its research 🩺💰
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Love when a PR person is like "why don't you want to speak to my client that you've never heard of that I cold pitched you????" Like gee Idk!!
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Y'all know I love a good venture success story that takes place outside of Silicon Valley or New York. Indy-based
@highalpha
grabs $110 million in the largest VC fundraise in Indiana to date, breaking its own record 🌽💰
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Me logging on Twitter at 3pm after not being online all day
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As the venture equity market starts to cool off after the funding frenzy from the last few years, turnaround and distressed-focused VCs are prepared for a bull market of their own 📈💰
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I really want to mute "quiet quitting" because I think it is largely dumb but watching companies and CEOs use it to fiercely defend toxic work cultures without realizing it is wildly entertaining
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Just knocked on the wall to get my neighbors to turn down their music and then immediately put my headphones in to listen to that exact song because it slaps
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This!! Nothing is a bigger 🚩 to me than this. It shows you either don’t actually know your competition or you’re arrogant! This absolutely can turn me off of an otherwise great company
companies pitching me sometimes exaggerate by saying they're the "first" or "only" etc...
hyperbole raises red flags and is counterproductive. makes me think your business can't stand on its own merits (which isn't always true!)
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My flight to San Francisco this morning got cancelled, but I rebooked with a long layover in Seattle and am turning it into…an opportunity!
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The only time you'll ever receive an email from me on ~the weekend~ so take full advantage! 😇
On March 7,
@rebecca_szkutak
and I are launching Midas Touch, our new weekly newsletter on the world of venture capital and startup fundraising.
You'll find exclusive interviews with the
#ForbesMidas
community, analysis, scoops and more.
Sign up here!
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Everyone keeps talking about the VCs fully sitting out from investing for the time being, but who are they? 👀 🙂 You should tell me on background 🙂 rebecca[dot]szkutak[at]techcrunch[dot]com
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🙋♀️🙋♀️🙋♀️
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My favorite part of going through work email after vacation is seeing how many of y’all double and triple followed up with me and completely ignored my out of office message 🥰
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The first quarter of 2022 saw more startups get acquired by other startups than ever before. Analysts, lawyers and investors expect this trend will continue this year. Here's why:
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.
@try_glimpse
raises $6.2 million to help turn short-term rentals into product showrooms. The startup works with more than 8,000 rental properties and over 150 brands.
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After two years of hyper speed growth 🚀, the venture market has started to come back down to Earth. It's not on a trajectory to crash though, and some investors say the pullback in funding and valuations is a good thing 📉
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Operator experience has become key in today's venture market. While some firms have had to pivot their hiring to secure partners with this background, it's been core to
@M13Company
since its 2016 founding.
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In case you (somehow) missed it yesterday,
@Forbes
published the latest edition of the Midas List. You should check it out and the great pieces by
@alexrkonrad
and
@kenrickcai
that ran alongside it 💥
#ForbesMidas
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.
@Marell_Evans
is raising $30 million for his debut fund at
@ExceptionalCap
. The fund is targeting B2B software companies and makes Marell one of the few solo Black GPs 💰
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It's luck that the first investment
@SusaVentures
made out of Fund I in 2013 was
@RobinhoodApp
. Eight years later, the firm has seen 7 exits from that first fund as it continues to build on its success. It now has a fresh $375 million to keep going:
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Thinking back to when I first starting covering finance and would accidentally write "donate" instead of "invest" LOL
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📢 Introducing 📢
#MidasSeed
🔥 For the first time, the
#ForbesMidas
franchise has expanded to include a ranking of the top 25 seed investors worldwide.
See who made it 👀⬇️
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Shoutout to everyone who fled Brooklyn last year!! You’ve allowed lil ole me (and Kyle obvs) to get a 2 bedroom apartment with a private yard for the same price as the literal trash palace we live in now
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@morgan_sung
I no joke saw a man blow his nose into his hands a few weeks ago. Not sneeze but BLOW HIS NOSE 🤮
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The two founders of
@BiomeMakers
met in a judo class at age five in Spain. They went on to create a DNA sequencing startup that detected DNA mutations related to cancer. Now? They are using that method to be the 23andMe of soil ⚗️🪴
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🎙️Give a listen to my equity pod debut!🎙️
@nmasc_
and I dive into how venture deals could get more structured in this funding downturn and what some of that structure could look like 👀⬇️
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When
@AmyNauiokas
and
@parkparadigm
launched
@anthemis
in 2010 they were a bit early to the fintech boom. But the firm has used getting into the market early to their advantage. Now they have $700 million in fresh funds and a new CEO ⬇️💰
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.
@DeepScribeAI
raises $30 million for its documentation tool that uses AI to transcribe interactions between physicians and their patients. The company says it saves doctors three hours of work a day on average 🩺💰⬇️
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.
@EclipseVentures
raises $510 million for an early growth fund to focus on the legacy industries that make up the supply chain. While these issues have been thrust into the limelight this year, the firm has been investing in the space since 2016 ⚙️💸
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When Kimberly Shenk launched clean beauty company NakedPoppy in 2019 she quickly realized how difficult it was to source sustainable ingredients. A data scientist at her core, she decided to try to fix it and launched
@noviconnect
:
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.
@Papaya_Global
wasn't planning on raising two funding rounds less than six months apart, but demand for the global HR platform kept growing.
The company announces a $100 million Series C round. My latest for
@Forbes
💰⬇️
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My girl 🥲🥲🥲
“I wish I could give New York City the key to me.”
– Music legend Patti Smith after receiving the Key to the City from
@NYCMayor
.
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New episode of 🎙️
@found
dropped today 💥We talked to Sarah Peterson about building
@NudgeText
and why we all could use a little help thinking of fun weekend plans.
Bonus! We've got
@asilbwrites
stepping in with me on the mic 🎧🔥🤘🏻
Getting people to try new things IRL with Sarah Peterson from The Nudge by
@rebecca_szkutak
and
@etherington
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Fertility startup
@CarrotFertility
🥕 wants to bring fertility care out of the consumer sector and into the employer-covered healthcare space. The startup just raised $75 million to do so:
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Childcare has always been an issue in the US and the pandemic made many longstanding problems worse.
@WithOtter
hopes to help. The startup helps parents coordinate childcare with stay-at-home parents and helps those SAH parents get paid 💰💰
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The invasion of Ukraine has shown the global venture market that the country's startup ecosystem is a lot larger, more advanced, and more intertwined than many realized. Investors hope this means the market will no longer be overlooked 🇺🇦💰
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Happy Birthday to the guy who has somehow spent more than 8 years with me, including being trapped together 24/7 for the last one, without killing me 😇
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I remember when the ME spent my whole WaPo intern interview making fun of my resume before hiring her son who was the same year, same school as me studying ......fiction writing....
oh my god I thought this was fake. what kind of gatekeeping power trip is this? intern programs should be ran with empathy, not fear
*encourage* students to ask questions, don’t make seeking clarifications be part of the test
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Yesterday marked six months of chaotic energy for this one 😇
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I really need some of you to realize that a story about a women founder or CEO that contains negative facts is not automatically a hit piece
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Only took me 7 tries to parallel park just now, please clap
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Getting a negative covid test is so nice because you can relieve yourself of anxiety over past events and just focus your anxiety on future ones!
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Drinking an iced Dunkin Donuts drink on a JetBlue flight to Boston is a specific vibe. No I will not elaborate.
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Felt weird to have to get a visitor pass to do an interview on Emerson's campus, which for 3 1/2 years is something I did almost daily
#alumni
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🔥🔥🔥 go
@DominicMadori
!!! 💥💥💥
oh hi i made forbes!
"her motivation is to provide transparency in how money and power move within venture capital"
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Writing on deadline is so fun! One minute you're focusing and the next you are like wait what WAS that Sean Paul song on that PS2 game I played in 2005
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How do you think first-time fund managers that raised their debut fund in the bull market, and are now deploying it into very different market conditions, are feeling? We asked them: 💰📉
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