A long time ago (last October lol) when I first got super serious about building, I volunteered at UC Launch and ran into a VC getting fruit. He was the first VC I met in person and cold ambushed. I was getting some fruit on a plate and he said he was going to copy me to which I replied, “Are you a VC?”

I had already spoken to a couple VCs but I already had ins with them so I felt like that didn’t count? I never think anyone wants to talk to me and honestly I’m lowkey intimidated by everyone, even though I don’t look like it. He was absolutely super cool and was the first person who suggested I go down the research path. I ran into a professor later that day and she pointed me to more. LOVE IT. I had actually been thinking about that a couple weeks ago since I’ve been doing backflips into my fancy pants data set when I got an email from him asking for founder introductions. Obviously I had the perfect founder, and on top of that, what a nice opening to update and thank him for pointing me into research!

Early stage founders are different. It’s fun! The energy is electric, especially at the beginning when everyone is in love with their idea and dreams. I don’t think that’s talked about enough. There’s a lot of burnout culture and not enough, “Remember the first time you hired someone and what that felt like?” and “Remember the first time someone was like, ‘Hey I could back this’?” and “Remember the first time you were like, ‘This doesn’t align with my values so no’?” I was on a call like that today and this guy is new new, building like lightning, and laughing the entire time. FUN!

So the same guy that I was thinking about for this VC had also invited me to some kind of cofounder / team matching meet up. Before I had my kid I Marie Kondo’d my closet, not realizing that when you have a kid it’s probably a good idea to have some messy clothes, but I guess I’ll save that for my next kid. As a result I’m in either sweats or some kind of dress or skirt but somehow managed to still end up with “Founder uniform.” Grey (obviously) hoodie branded with a startup that got acquired (of course). Nothing says “I’m a serious founder” like a grey hoodie. How did I even get this? Oh right, my ex lol!

Anyway, because this was a Deep Tech team matching and I’m in AI, I literally threw on a yellow crop top with Snoopy on it, the standard issue grey hoodie, and a bag with a raccoon on it. I’ve been in meetups like this before and who doesn’t love Snoopy? It was hot AF so halfway through our hoodie landed on my waist and I was like “This crop top was a good idea” but absolutely threw it back on when we went inside.

Nametag – Check
Cold pizza – Check
Brilliant ideas – Check

I had a fun conversation with an investor who was laughing about some ransomware. It’s a chess game, he says. ABSOLUTELY! For this particular incident anyway lol.

At some point they made an announcement that they were going to do an activity like speed dating for founders. I got in at the very last second so I didn’t have a seat and my friend said, you can just sit with me. He got a nice seat by the window with a high table and everything. Someone running the event though said, “Hey are you a founder? Sit here” and plopped me down in a seat where another founder was a no show. OH SHIT. Turns out this was a VC Matchmaking SUMMIT, not a COFOUNDER summit which was how I read it, probably because most of the matchmaking things I research are cofounder or team related.

They were having 30 second pitches, and a VC asked me if I would go up and I said I don’t know. I have a lot of social anxiety, but I also have a lot of “don’t waste your chances.” When I was done and came back the VC told me he wanted to hear more and had said he actually shushed the people behind him to hear more. I know these are like small things, but even with all the validation signals I get everywhere, I’m still wearing imposter syndrome like my founder hoodie. It’s a lot better than before but I always wonder when that will go away. Does it ever go away? LOL! He was asking me a ton about what I do and asked me if I do consulting. This is actually the second time a VC has asked me this and I said I do but honestly I’m really focused on my research right now. He had pointed out something in a separate vertical that may introduce a variable into my results. GOOD! I said, break this! I highly suspect the vertical nuance is why there is this delta, but I am also excited to tell him about what I find out when I report back.

So that was my day! I know I say I feel lucky all the time but I really do! I met some awesome people and I didn’t even get to talk about the PHD student that I met earlier who was lovely and I’m honestly excited about her research too!

Fancy tea drank: 1
Cookies eaten: 1
Times I laughed at this summit: a lot
Amazing conversations I had: a lot + a lot
Times I zipped up my hoodie because I was wearing a Snoopy crop top and did you know this was a VC Matchmaking Summit?: 1