Lauren Rhode

Did you know that 68% of small businesses report having cash flow problems, and many small businesses rely on the owner's personal funds to stay afloat? Relay exists to solve this and the best part is it's actually working! Which makes this announcement even sweeter: We raised a USD $32.2 million Series B round. What does this mean? - More spend management tools to improve financial visibility - More products to give small business owners flexibility - More integrations to streamline operations - And ultimately more businesses making better and smarter financial decisions Exciting times ahead! PS We're hiring: https://lnkd.in/gMT2mN25

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Big news, Friends! 🎉🎉 I’m thrilled to announce the launch of Chapter Two Consulting, along with my longtime friends and partners Ray Zambroski, Phillip Grove, and Don Fleming.  These guys are Seattle tech veterans, with long track records of helping numerous Seattle startups and fast scalers build business-critical software and great engineering teams. Chapter Two Consulting is a culmination of decades of building trusted relationships, hard-won experience (and a few hard lessons), and great admiration for those who get up every morning and enter the arena. I’ve worked with some of you for many, many years.  Some measured in decades!  It’s been my absolute pleasure and honor; I look forward to many more. Ready to write the next chapter in your story?  Don’t go it alone; we’re here to help! Dan Sr. Partner and Co-founder, Chapter Two Consulting https://chapter2team.com ------------------- Announcing the Launch of Chapter Two Consulting: Your Engineering Powerhouse. At Chapter Two, we believe engineers are the architects of innovation—building the products, technologies, and infrastructures that shape our future. With roots in the Pacific Northwest’s hub of creativity, and deep technical prowess, we’re here to connect bold thinkers with the resources, talent, and strategy they need to make a lasting impact. Seattle’s engineering community is our home. From early-stage startups to scaling enterprises, we recognize the challenges engineering leaders face when assembling teams, launching breakthrough technologies, and scaling with purpose. We’ve built Chapter Two to empower innovators with a tailored recruitment and consulting service designed specifically to address these kinds of problems. Our team brings deep expertise across technical disciplines and industries, enabling us to align your organization’s vision with the right talent and strategies. Whether you’re solving critical technical challenges, refining your product roadmap or scaling an R&D team, we’re your partner every step of the way. We work flexibly and collaboratively to support your growth, offering: - Consulting engagements that tackle immediate challenges while building frameworks for long-term success. - - Engineering recruitment to match you with exceptional talent across software, hardware, and interdisciplinary domains - - Long term partnership for emerging technical leaders navigating complex and changing team growth requirements. At Chapter Two, we’re not just recruiters or consultants—we’re a part of your team. We’re inspired by the builders and innovators who call Seattle home, and we’re dedicated to helping you engineer your vision into reality. Let’s connect and explore how we can drive your success together.

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I highly recommend SF local founders check out a free "Founder-Led Sales" lecture Peter Kazanjy is giving on Wednesday Dec 11th. The single biggest mistake I see founders make is abstracting themselves from sales prematurely. It hemorrhages cash, runway and founder and employee equity. They think the moment they leave their accelerator or raise capital that's the signal for others to take the reigns of sales sleigh. #error Pete demystifies much of what it takes get founder-led sales right. Book your place using the link in the comments. #sales #saas #startups #GTMdebt #venturecapital

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We had Linear event for founders in SF last night, and as part of that I had a fireside chat with Patrick Collison from Stripe. We covered some topics like the importance of craft, product management, good leaders, etc. Some highlights: The importance of craft: At Linear we see the craft as the requirement for quality. People who care about their craft, almost automatically produce quality. Patrick: "We want to employ really good people. Really good people just don't like working on kind of sloppy things. There's just a deep spiritual aspect to that." Power of small teams: In my experience in companies, some of the best work was always done by a small, focused team, most features at Linear are built by 2-4 team members. Patrick: "The original iPhone software team was 20 people. The kernel, the apps, the browser, the touch interface, like the whole thing. So when people are telling you that they need 40 people for some project, you can explain to them how the iPhone was built with 20 people. So how big would you consider your project in multiples of the iPhone?" How Stripe still builds products in a startup way: Patrick: "There is an internal recipe for this which first guides you to figure out the right user for the product, then the team should go talk to some of those people. Then you should get some of these people into the Slack channel or some other channel where you can get them to try it, get more feedback or try the product. Once you have 5 excited users for something, you can scale it to 100. Then you can start looking at some metrics, but again you look at things like is it actually solving their problems etc."

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What gives a startup the potential to break out and become massively important? The best thinking I’ve encountered on the question comes from our most recent lead investor, Mike Maples, Jr. His new book, Pattern Breakers, is now required reading for leaders at Ario. I’ve been working on tech products in Silicon Valley since January 2000. Over that time, I’ve read countless business and strategy books, and consumed probably thousands of articles, blog posts, podcasts, videos, etcetera, on the question. The framework in Pattern Breakers beats them all. It is simple– inflection, insight, idea– but incredibly powerful. It'd be helpful whether you're contemplating a new venture or figuring out the essence of your current company, product or idea. Highly recommend. Thanks for an amazing piece of work, Mike!

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🚀 Today's the day, engineers and operators! In a few short hours, I'll be hitting the stage for a fireside chat at the Going Early: Engineering & Operator Meetup, co-hosted by Asymmetric and MGMT Boston Expect some AI wisdom, a dash of startup reality, and maybe a bad joke or two (no promises on the quality, folks). Afterwards, grab a drink at the happy hour and find me or Hao Xu (our Founding Engineer extraordinaire), and let's geek out about the latest in AI and tech. Last chance to be part of the action! Drop a comment if I’ll see you there tonight! 👇 #AIRevolution #StartupMeetup #TechNetworking #GenerativeAI #BostonInnovation

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BIG Announcement: We've been running the pitch competition at SaaStock since 2018, identifying the best SaaS Startup each year through hundreds of applications and participants. From a humbling prize of €25k in 2018, we more recently upped this to a €200k investment from BackFuture. Now we are excited to announce that for the upcoming SaaStock Europe in Dublin this October 14-16th, the winner of this years pitch competition will receive a whopping €500k investment in their pre-seed or seed stage round. Joining BackFuture with the investment are 2100 Ventures, Quadri Ventures, Startup Wise Guys, Beacon Venture Capital, Pearl Capital, Venteri Capital. Supporting partners for the pitch comp include Mountside Ventures and Landscape & HSBC Innovation Banking. This makes the pitch competition Prize at SaaStock Europe one of the biggest at any event globally. You need to be in it to win it. And beyond the money, the previous winners have gone on to elevate their exposure within the VC and press landscape and gotten great feedback on their product. Applications are open now. Link in the comments. #saastockeurope #pitchcompetition #preseed #seed #saas

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Triangle startup ecosystem - first thanks for the incredible generosity that you showed over the last 2wks to help folks impacted by Helene. Here's a last update on our Hurricane Helene relief efforts with a final 'how can you help' ask. The TL;DR - our nascent effort has matured and morphed into the WCEN. The most urgent need has moved from supplies to funding the teams out on the ground that need specialty items like gas, oxygen tanks, starlinks, etc. There's a gofundme, this is a certified 501(c)(3) here-> https://lnkd.in/e4NdxuW8 What is the WCEN you ask?!.... o There were several operating groups that were able to grassroots consolidate efforts under the Western Carolina Emergency Network (WCEN) umbrella and they have a website up that is improving every day: https://lnkd.in/ePYP6_JJ o WCEN's goal is to provide services to survivors until temporary infrastructure can be re-built. There are over 1m people in Western NC without shelter and basic necessities. o WCEN is providing: -> Reconnaissance -> Search + Rescue ( + Recovery) -> Rapid Supply Response / Air Support -> Medical Care o WCEN has these network partners: -> Operation Airdrop Inc- Air support including planes and helicopters -> Carolina Calvary - Coordinator for Operation Airdrop -> Razor Nation - ATV support -> Restoration Church @restoration church - Josh Brown and Ryan Honeycutt- supply collection sites and delivery -> Apex Defense - Search and Rescue, Security -> Lincoln County Airport - Pilot coordinator -> AJ - Heavy Lift Drone support -> GSDF team - C&C logistics, Special Forces team coordinator -> Reagan Madison Inc. team- Back office, infrastructure, and fundraising,FOB coordination (Crystal Suazo, CPA - who looped this together and we connected with here on LI!) -> WRTE, Inc - Legal, tax, fiduciary support -> Christina Marie Noel - Christina Noel + volunteers - Strategic marketing & communications -> United National Weather Team - Medical support with ATV abilities if anyone, especially corps would like to donate $, volunteers, trucks, etc. please contact William McGuire (on the ground items), Rebecca Ross / Jess Porta (Triangle-based corp donations/logistics). We're getting the last truck of items at Raleigh Founded out and future donations should be made at: Electric Supply Co 207 Bickett Blvd Raleigh NC, 27608 Want more ideas on how to have an impact? https://lnkd.in/euNxS8kd Thanks again everyone!

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Couple people reached out about this GeekWire article yesterday by Taylor Soper covering supply chain tech in Seattle, asking more about it. I really believe Seattle is a great spot for the following reasons: 1. Modern supply chains are built from the ground up to serve customers. While Amazon helped cement this, others deserve credit for their commitment to customer focus. Many of those companies are in Seattle (Nordstrom etc). I really believe that every supply chain will fail to modernize if it doesn't reorient towards its respective customer at the center. The 90s era operating models of push-based cost management and misaligned incentives will prevent true modernization. Because Seattle has had so many companies with this at their cultural core, a lot of the supply chain tech talent here is committed to this attitude. 2. Technology, in particular cloud based software engineering, and supply chain operations are now so intimately intertwined, that you can't have an operator who isn't technical (or have someone who is technical but doesn't understand operations) and still expect to modernize. Seattle is also a technology epicenter, with Microsoft/Amazon and dozens of excellent public and private companies shedding supreme technical talent. It has allowed a higher hit rate of leading technologists to infiltrate logistics tech. 3. Similar to above, I believe most supply chain problems are probabilistic in nature. There is little certainty in supply chains. This means data is the root most important thing to modern supply chains, but also that true data science with real data scientists powering real ML and AI models is critical to successful supply chains. Data science talent is all over the place here in Seattle. 4. Lastly, hard to put a finger on this one, but there is something interesting about the intersection of the profiles of startups (high risk based profiles) and supply chains (low risk based profiles). Startups and startup culture embraces change. You have to in order to be successful. Seattle is definitely a top startup ecosystem in the country, so a lot of people here are comfortable pushing boundaries. Meanwhile, operations and supply chains are historically risk averse, and for good reason. Physical atoms are involved. It's the heartbeat of organizations. Most tech is 90s era on prem stuff. It's really hard to change. I think there is something compelling about each side counter balancing each other for the best ideas for innovation coming out of it. When I look at the startups on Taylor's list, it's a lot of ideas are targeting the highest value and most fertile problems of supply chains. I think the talent here is focused on meaningful change that industries can absorb, versus too risky of ideas that will never be adopted or too small of ideas that will never make an impact. https://lnkd.in/gm4bikHb

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👀 Hidden jobs! 👀 (Sorry/NotSorry for the clickbait title) 😎 I recently learned that there are many VC (Venture Capital) firms out there that maintain their own job boards for open positions at the companies that they invest in. This is a great resource to find openings at startups (and some pretty well established companies, too) that may not be listed here on LinkedIn or other boards. I thought it would be useful to put together a list of the ones I have found so far. If you are looking for work, check out my list! (A work in progress, but please repost and share). https://lnkd.in/gnQsb3H8 Oh and did I mention that I am #opentowork and looking for a new role in Engineering Management? Check out my profile and HMU if you've got something interesting! 🙏 Thanks!

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To help bridge the information gap between founders & investors, Nick Khormaei & I built a comprehensive map of the Seattle venture ecosystem. Check out the slide deck below for a breakdown and reach out to us if you'd like to see our full data-set!

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🚀 Exciting news for all startup founders! 🌟 Before he took over the mic at TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Haje Kamps joined us to share invaluable insights on crafting a pitch that stands out—especially in today's challenging fundraising climate. 🎙️ In this killer video excerpt, Haje, with his deep expertise as a pitch deck expert, breaks down the essentials of a compelling pitch. He emphasizes clarity in your value proposition, the critical nature of founder-market fit, and the importance of a sizable market opportunity. 📈 We dig deep into these topics, extracting gems that are vital for every founder looking to make an impact with potential investors. 🤝 👉 Watch the short clip here, and if it grabs your attention, the full conversation covers even more ground on navigating the VC ecosystem successfully! 👇 Check the first comment for links to the full podcast on YouTube and Apple Podcasts!

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If you’re an early-stage founder, finding out what your customers *really* want so you can build the right product is critical. I’m excited to share some of First Round Capital's PMF Method program with Gagan Biyani on Friday! Gagan has founded 3 companies including Udemy, Sprig, and Maven. We’re hosting this live conversation for product leaders & founders on how to reach PMF. You’ll learn: - How to identify your customers' real problems - How to test demand by selling before building - When to write code vs. build a no-code MVP RSVP to join on June 14th (it’s free): https://bit.ly/3VBAK69

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Inversion just raised $44 million in a Series A, and let me tell you, they’re not just shipping boxes—they’re reshaping reality. Led by Spark Capital and Adjacent, with a stacked roster of backers like Lockheed Martin, Kindred Ventures, and Y Combinator, this isn’t your typical logistics story. It’s a cosmic mic (Errrm, BOX) drop. The game? Space-based precision delivery. The players? Justin Fiaschetti, a SpaceX alum who knows propulsion like a conductor knows symphonies, and Austin Briggs, whose ABL Space Systems background is the rocket science you don’t argue with. Together, they’ve flipped the playbook, taking cargo off the roads and into orbit with an autonomous reentry vehicle called Arc. Think orbital storage that drops into the atmosphere on-demand with 20-foot precision. Remote jungle? Frozen tundra? Arc doesn’t flinch. Here’s why this isn’t just cool tech, but a logistics revolution. The $6 trillion sector has always been bound by geography and time. Inversion breaks those chains. One-hour delivery to the most unreachable places on Earth? Suddenly possible. The applications are endless—disaster relief, high-value military assets, and hey, maybe even the first pizza delivery from orbit. The $54 million stack (that’s including their $10 million seed) is their fuel to scale, hire smart, and bring Arc into the world by 2026. Investors aren’t just funding a spacecraft—they’re betting on a vision. Spark Capital’s Nabeel Hyatt said it best: “A package delivered from space anywhere in the world will fundamentally transform logistics.” Lockheed Martin sees it too—no surprise they’re keeping a close watch. The team isn’t stopping at raising rounds and securing FAA reentry licenses. They’re scaling their Los Angeles HQ, ramping up their Mojave test sites, and prepping for the Ray spacecraft’s upcoming demo flight. They’re out to prove this isn’t sci-fi; it’s a blueprint for a world where “remote” doesn’t mean “inaccessible.” This is bigger than logistics. This is about rethinking the supply chain at a planetary scale. Call it audacious, call it impossible—but don’t call it boring. Inversion’s aiming for the stars, and it’s clear they plan on owning the future of delivery along the way. #Startups #DeepTech #StartupFunding #SlowlyRealizingIAmNotAllThatSmart 🫠 #RocketScience #Logistics #Delivery #SpaceTech #VentureCapital #StartupFunding #Technology #Innovation #GivesNewMeaningToDropShipping #DropShipping #Cargo

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I recently sat down with a group of Forum Ventures founders about to go out to fundraise and the topic of SAFE rounds came up. The context focused on the pros/cons of raising a priced vs a SAFE round and the conversation notably shifted toward the dilution implications of a SAFE round. Founders are keenly aware of the top line dilution of any funding round - ie selling 20% of their startup for $3M at a $15M cap - but very few fully grasp the implications of doing a SAFE round vs a priced round. The universal standard for institutional VC investors is a post money SAFE. This document essentially outlines ownership that an investor will have in a startup just prior to the execution of a priced round. Most importantly though, it is structured so that an investor in that SAFE will not be diluted by subsequent SAFE's that are issued. This is where founder education around the implications of this structure are not fully appreciated. In a situation where a founder continues to stack subsequent SAFEs, they don't actually convert until the first priced round and the net dilution they are taking is actually more than they realize. Here is a practical example - take a situation where a founder has already sold 15% of their business on a post money SAFE in a pre-seed round, and is now choosing to sell another 20% in a seed round. If the founder opts to raise this money on SAFEs, the dilution of that additional 20% will come entirely from common equity holders- meaning they will now own 65%. If SAFE holders were also diluted by that round, as they would be in a priced round, the founder would own 68%. This dynamic becomes more dramatic the more capital a founder raises on SAFEs. Note - this is a high level example and does not include an option pool carve out or other round nuances. Almost universally, when a founder raises their first priced round, there is some degree of sticker shock at the outright dilution on their cap table, particularly when options pools are factored in. This pain is even more acute when a founder has raised a fair amount of capital on SAFEs along the way. There are certainly benefits to raising SAFE round, mainly cash in hand 6-8 weeks faster and not having to decide on board seats too early, but I encourage all of our founders to run through cap table modeling and correctly account for the implications of SAFE rounds before they make fundraising decisions.

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As a B2B SaaS VC 👩‍💻 and a huge data nerd 🤓, fewer things bring me more joy than a truly statistically significant analysis (600+ companies surveyed) of B2B SaaS metrics across early stage companies. Great work by our team at Emergence Capital! See comments for full report, and please let us know how we can make this better in the future!

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Whether I am on a sales call, at a party, or just speaking with friends, explaining the breadth of Viam’s capabilities in words has been difficult. I have, however, found that once I show the platform at work, eyes light up and ideas about the different devices that could benefit from Viam begin flowing. Here are some of my favorite projects to “show off” when I am giving a demo of Viam. What devices in your life would you hack to do the same? https://lnkd.in/eFn6eD52 #software #robotics #opensource

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Last night's Technology Association of Oregon panel discussion on raising capital for AI ventures was full of interesting takeaways. The event brought together leading PNW VCs, CEOs, and funders to share their perspectives and best practices. Here's what you need to know: ➡ The AI/ML space is rapidly evolving, presenting huge opportunities for startups tackling real business problems. VCs are actively seeking out the most ambitious and disruptive companies in this domain. ➡ Having an "unfair advantage" is key - whether that's proprietary data sets, unique domain expertise, or unparalleled access to customers. AI ventures need strong differentiation to stand out. ➡ Build relationships early with VCs, even before you're ready to raise. Their insights and connections can accelerate your journey. The PNW venture ecosystem is highly collaborative and accessible. ➡ Don't be deterred by the perceived lack of local funding. Great companies with compelling visions will get funded, period. Leverage the PNW's strengths in developer/engineering talent. ➡ Recognize and proactively address the potential downsides of AI - from data privacy to model bias. Building responsibly is both an obligation and an opportunity. ➡ Move fast, be bold. Raising capital is always hard, but fortune favors the brave in this space. With the right team, tech and traction, you can build a world-changing business here in the PNW. Thanks to the fantastic panelists Diane Fraiman (Voyager Capital), Geoff Harris (Flying Fish), Jon Maroney (OVF), Chris Sestito (Hidden Layer), Jon Turow (Madrona) for sharing their insights, and to Kristy Edwards for moderating!

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I believe two of the big winners over the next 10 years in the SMB category will be PE who are rolling up the businesses and GenAI powered software that makes running these businesses significantly more turnkey and/or profitable. Thanks for having me on Jay Kapoor. If you want spicy takes fast forward to 25 min mark. If you want to get deep in market analysis buckle in for the whole thing. https://lnkd.in/d8M7Jyrx

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