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☆ An ex-Googler reveals why she's selling her construction startup to a Saudi company with still a year of runway in the bank
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-02 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

She's now selling her startup to WakeCap, a Saudi Arabia-based company that has contracts with many of the kingdom's construction megaprojects such as "desert cities." Instead, Eisnor exited early, selling her startup to help it scale faster. WakeCapBuilt toughFor nine years, Eisnor had a front-row seat at a tech rocketship, Waze, the Israeli-born maps and navigation company. "There is a reality in construction software that a lot of the names that you might know, they're going to be hovering around, say, $10 million in ARR. Eisnor is staying on as chief strategy officer, and Crews by Core's chief technology officer, Gene Gutnik, now leads tech for the combined company.

Persons: Ann Eisnor, Crews, Eisnor, I'm, Caterina Fake's, Hassan Albalawi, Albalawi, Kajima, —, WakeCap's Albalawi, they're, Gene Gutnik, WakeCap Organizations: Service, Business, NFX, GV, Google, McKinsey & Company, Autodesk, Core, Core's Locations: Saudi Arabia, United States, Saudi, Silicon, Silicon Valley, Israeli, hyperscale, WeWork

☆ There's a raucous debate in Silicon Valley over the use of AI chatbots in tech job interviews
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Fearing the dreaded technical interview, Kyle hit the books harder than a high school junior studying for the SAT. It turns out Silicon Valley is engaged in a raucous debate over the use of artificial intelligence in technical interviews. Those in favor say banning chatbots in technical interviews is like prohibiting calculators in math tests. AdvertisementThe technical interview is open bookPeople close to the interview process say companies are already changing their tests to avoid cheating. Big Tech's reluctanceIn Big Tech, companies are so far opting out of chatbots in technical interviews.

Persons: —, Kyle, Tammy Han, Santosh Sankar, Cristina Cordova, Ram Sriharsha, doesn't, Zeta, Kevin Hopkins, Aline Lerner, Lerner, Yossi Kahlon, Kahlon, Mang, Ng, Amanda Richardson, Akmen, Richardson, Tigran Sloyan, Sloyan, Natan Fisher, he's, Rahul Vohra, Stephen McCarthy, Fisher Organizations: Service, Business, Software, Dynamo Ventures, San Francisco Chronicle, Hearst Newspapers, Getty, Zeta, Engineers, Google, Big Tech, Meta, CoderPad, Spotify, LinkedIn, Founders Locations: Silicon, chatbot

But, not all AI startups are created equal. AdvertisementBusiness Insider surveyed nine VCs who invest in AI startups at firms like Bain Capital Ventures, Flybridge, and Sapphire Ventures. Startups building AI's "picks and shovels" are a better bet than yet another LLMStep aside, OpenAI and Anthropic. In contrast, unstructured data encompasses various formats such as text documents, images, audio files, emails, social media posts, and videos. Some AI investors say they're shying away from point solutions—think online payment processing or project management—in favor of full-stack solutions.

Persons: —, Harvey, Navin Chaddha, Chip Hazard, they're, Kahini Shah, there's, Rak Garg, Garg, Shah, Lauri Moore, Moore, Chaddha, Capital's Moore, she's Organizations: Service, Accel, Business, Bain Capital Ventures, Flybridge, Sapphire Ventures, Google, Meta, Mayfield Fund, Flybridge Capital Partners, Obvious, Investors, Obvious Ventures, Foundation, Dig Ventures Locations: Mayfield, Hazard, Flybridge

Behind most startup founders is an early-stage investor who saw their potential, nurtured their ambition, and backed their ideas. The end of a record bull run in tech rebooted the startup landscape, and now early-stage investors are embracing the change. Founders have gone back to basics, staying lean and mean from the start and harnessing tailwinds of the artificial intelligence boom. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.

Organizations: Business

☆ How Shruti Gandhi, a solo venture capitalist with 15 exits in 5 years, went from underestimated to unstoppable
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Shruti Gandhi has a simple rule for meeting founders: She only takes the meeting if she wants to invest. Being the solo general partner of her firm, the early-stage outfit Array Ventures, also means she can get deals done quickly. Over the past five years, she's returned most of her maiden $7 million fund to limited partners at a net multiple of almost four. For founders, by foundersThe founders Gandhi has backed like working with her because of her technical chops and hands-on approach. We will back you if you raise a fund,'" Gandhi said.

Persons: Shruti Gandhi, Gandhi, Nikhil Teja Kolli, Kolli, she's, wasn't, Dumbledore, Harry Potter, Champ Bennett, Zimperium's Zuk Avraham, Mehul Nariyawala, Google —, Doktor Gurson, Gurson Organizations: Ventures, Business, PayPal, IBM, Columbia University, True Ventures, Samsung, Google, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Rad Locations: India, Poughkeepsie , New York, She's

Early-stage investing is a delicate dance. It demands an understanding of markets, a knack for recognizing potential, and sheer tenacity to weather the cyclical storms of the startup world. Now in its fourth year, our Seed 40 list illuminates the women who have mastered this craft. They are on the front lines, locking arms with visionary founders to transform ideas into full-fledged businesses, often putting money and support behind those builders before others see the opportunity. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Organizations: Business

Steve Bowsher, In-Q-TelSteve Bowsher, president and CEO of In-Q-Tel. He made an early bet on Palantir, blowing the doors open for Silicon Valley techies to go after federal contracts. The son of a federal employee who grew up devouring spy novels, Bowsher has always been interested in the work of the government but actually cut his teeth in Silicon Valley. After graduating from Stanford, he worked for three startups and spent eight years at venture fund InterWest Partners. By combining Silicon Valley's swashbuckling ethos with a government agency's mission-driven mentality, Bowsher has helped shepherd some of the biggest defense tech success stories of the past two decades.

Persons: Steve Bowsher, Bowsher Organizations: Magazine, Stanford, InterWest Partners Locations: Menlo Park , California, Silicon Valley

☆ This AI startup that helps stores catch shoplifters just bagged $1.5 million in pre-seed funding without using a pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

MokSa.ai uses general-use models and customizes them to detect suspicious activity at store locations. The company also pays college interns in India to watch footage for suspicious activity and annotate it — a process called data labeling. The dashboard shows reports of suspicious activity at a glance. MokSa.aiThe Android of the surveillance marketBefore MokSa.ai, Kolli worked as a quality manager at a company producing parts for high-speed rails. While these two tout their abilities to detect suspicious activity and send alerts, they both require customers to use their cameras and sensors.

Persons: —, Nikhil Teja Kolli, Kolli, Jay Farner, MokSa.ai, MokSa.ai Kolli, Shruti Gandhi, Gandhi, It's Organizations: Service, Business, Array Ventures, Quicken Loans, The Fund, Ventures, Royal Ozarks Locations: Kansas, India, Detroit

☆ The man who led Google Photos to 1 billion users is now the newest group partner at Y Combinator
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Lieb, having a background in semiconductors and not server management, reached out to his fellow Y Combinator founders for support. After a year and a half of advising at the accelerator, he's stepping up as a group partner, Y Combinator tells Business Insider exclusively. It was never released, but many of the ideas would later come back in the form of Google Photos. From there, he reached into the Y Combinator alumni network to find other promising upstarts. David Lieb, second from left, speaks to a group of Y Combinator founders.

Persons: David Lieb, Lieb, Alex Polvi, Combinator —, Garry Tan, Jared Friedman, Harj Taggar, Michael Seibel, Sam Altman, it's, Y Combinator, " Lieb, Dan Lieb, Y, Xoogler, Patrick, John Collison's, Mixpanel, Jake Mintz, Forbes, Kevin Systrom, Flock, Andy Huibers, Mary, 72m2YgJZq8 — David Lieb, Ryan Peterson, He's Organizations: Apple, Business, Investors, Google Locations: Cloudkick, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Flexport

☆ Inside Y Combinator's 60,000-square-foot, San Francisco college town
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The full-blown mania in artificial intelligence is bringing tech workers and startups back to San Francisco. Last June, the startup accelerator moved its headquarters from Mountain View into its new digs at the Pier 70 shipyard. Y Combinator partners record an episode of the Lightcone podcast in a production studio complete with professional cameras and lighting fixtures. Y CombinatorRemoving 'friction'For 17 years, Y Combinator set its base in Mountain View. The new San Francisco outpost was born from a desire to get founders in person again post-pandemic.

Persons: —, Jared Friedman, hasn't, Y Combinator Friedman, Y, Friedman, Carlos Avila Gonzalez, Bart, Lindsay Amos Organizations: Service, Volkswagen, Business, Chase, San, Rail, San Francisco Chronicle, Bay Area, YC Locations: San Francisco, Mountain View, San, bayside, View, Mission Bay, Bay, North Beach

☆ Robo-lawyer startup DoNotPay did something almost unheard of in Silicon Valley: It paid a dividend.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In January, the legal startup DoNotPay sent more than $1 million to employees and investors in its first-ever dividend. He got the idea from one of his own angels, Sahil Lavingia, whose startup Gumroad issued a dividend last year. The expectation is that when a company sells or goes public, employees will cash in their shares for untold riches. Last year, the digital commerce startup Gumroad paid a dividend of $1 million across employees, investors, and thousands of crowdfunding backers. Cash rewardsBrowder said he wanted to offer a dividend to reward those employees and investors who bet on the startup early.

Persons: Joshua Browder, Browder, DoNotPay, it's, Sahil Lavingia, Josh Seidenfeld, Cooley, Steve Huffman, Spencer Platt, Seidenfeld, Lavingia, Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock, Dylan Field, Scott Belsky, Daniel Dines, Balaji Srinivasan, Cash, there's Organizations: Business, Big Law, Employees, Founders Fund, Adobe Locations: San Francisco

☆ Mathilde Collin built a $1.7 billion email startup by the time she was 32. She's now stepping back at an inflection point for Front.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

And so last fall, Collin kicked off a search for a new board director, to fill in her knowledge gaps. Now, Collin says she will step down as chief executive of Front after her hunt for a board director took an unexpected turn. She will move into an executive chair role on April 15, when O'Connell takes up the mantle as chief executive, Front tells Business Insider exclusively. Known for her sharp wit and radical candor, Collin started the business out of college in her native France. Advertisement"We're at a scale now where the CEO can't come in and sort of wave the proverbial magic wand and make things happen," said Mohammed Attar, Front's chief product officer.

Persons: Mathilde Collin, Collin, Dan O'Connell, O'Connell, Garry Tan, Paul Buchheit, Jack Altman, Kyle Vogt, Cruise, Jeff Lawson, Mohammed Attar, —, Josh Stein, Stein Organizations: Service, Business, Dialpad, Front Locations: San Francisco neighborhood, France, Dialpad

☆ Cybersecurity startup Cyera is set to triple its valuation to as high as $1.55 billion in a new funding round, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Ben Bergman | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Cyera is a cybersecurity startup founded in 2021 by two veterans of The Israel Defence Forces. It is raising funding that values the company at as much as $1.55 billion, three sources told BI. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementCyera, a New York-based data security startup founded in 2021, is raising a new funding round that values the company at as much as $1.55 billion, three sources familiar with the matter told Business Insider. The startup is raising $150 to $200 million in this latest round, according to multiple sources.

Persons: Douglas Leone, — Organizations: Israel Defence Forces, Sequoia Capital, Service, Accel, Business Locations: New York

☆ This defense-tech startup bootstrapped its way to nearly $30 million in revenue. Now, it has another $35 million from Sapphire Ventures.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Now, Defense Unicorns, a startup that creates open-source software for national security systems, has announced it raised $35 million in a round of funding led by Sapphire Ventures and Ansa Capital. The world of open-source software for the military is small, making the opportunity much greater. TestifySec, a tiny startup building open-source software for the Department of Homeland Security, raised a $6 million seed round last fall. This year, Defense Unicorns says it will use the initial round of funding to go on a hiring spree. Defense Unicorns will compete for talent in artificial intelligence with tons of other startups.

Persons: —, Jai Das, Rob Slaughter, Das, siphoning, Slaughter, it's, Lockheed Martin Organizations: Service, Sapphire Ventures, Unicorns, Business, Defense Unicorns, Ansa, Department of Defense, Air Force, Lockheed, Department of Homeland Security Locations: Chicago

☆ Meet Boston's new power venture capitalist
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

A changing of the guard is underway at Boston-based venture capital firm Underscore VC. The venture capitalist, wearing a cherry red cardigan and Apple Watch, cracked open a notebook and set it beside an iced coffee. Underscore VCLyman's Facebook credentials could have given her a ticket to many venture firms located down the road in Menlo Park. "The thesis is that if you get the right people around the business at the right time, it'll change the trajectory of the business," Lyman said. As Lyman steps up, so does UnderscoreUnderscore is moving into its next phase during a reckoning for venture capital.

Persons: Lily Lyman, —, Mike Greene, Marley, Lyman, Greene, she's, Michael Skok, John Pearce, Lyman —, Lily, they're, Skok, Alessandra Henderson, Pamela Aldsworth, Jeff Bussgang, Hi Marley, Gordon Ritter, Kevin Bacon, There's, Ritter Organizations: Service, Harvard University, Facebook, House, Apple Watch, Elektra Health, JPMorgan, New England Venture Capital Association, MIT, Allston Venture Fund, Harvard, Boston's, Capital Partners, OpenView Venture Partners, SEC, Old, Capital Locations: Boston, Old, Menlo Park

☆ Founders Fund partner Sam Blond has left the firm
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Blond has left Founders Fund after 17 months with the firm. Blond's departure from Founders Fund is the second in as many months after Keith Rabois left. AdvertisementSam Blond, the Founders Fund partner who brought sales expertise from his years at Brex and Zenefits, has left the firm, he announced on X. He's the second partner to depart Founders Fund this year after Keith Rabois made a return to Khosla Ventures in January. In 2022, Founders Fund took part in 84 rounds that totaled about $6.6 billion.

Persons: Sam Blond, he's, Keith Rabois, —, I've, Blond, Forbes, Rabois, Axios Organizations: Fund, Service, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Brex, Institutional Locations: Brex

☆ It's becoming insane again in venture capital: A tiny AI startup wants investors to pay $100 to book a meeting with its founder.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A couple of days ago, startup founder Dan Siroker set his sights on meeting new investors. Siroker closed the process with 170 bids to sift through. Siroker told Business Insider this week that he isn't actively fundraising. Advertisement"When deals get hot, there is extreme interest," Ben Lerer, managing partner of Lerer Hippeau, an early-stage venture firm, told Business Insider's Ben Bergman late last year. "If you're not there long before the raising, you're not part of the conversation."

Persons: —, Dan Siroker, clamoring, whittle, Siroker, isn't, Andreessen Horowitz, they'd, Pavlo Gonchar, Ben Lerer, Lerer, Insider's Ben Bergman, there's, Dick Costolo, they're, Costolo, he'd Organizations: Service, Business, Getty, Twitter, Google, Nvidia, Boys & Girls Locations: haves, Silicon Valley

☆ AI startup Perplexity is in talks to raise more money at a significantly higher valuation just months after its last round
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewOnly months after buzzy AI search-engine startup Perplexity AI raised its last round of funding, the company is yet again raising additional funds, as investors clamor to back tech's next big generative AI startup. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Perplexity is raising this additional money at a significantly higher valuation cap than its previous pricing of $520 million, according to two people with direct knowledge. A spokesperson told Business Insider that the details of the deal were incorrect but did not clarify when asked for further information.

Persons: —, clamor, Jeff Bezos, Perplexity, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard, Aravind Srinivas, It's, Elad Gil, Nat Friedman, Fred Wilson, aren't Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Institutional Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Bessemer Venture Partners, Nvidia Locations: OpenAI

☆ VC Dick Costolo dishes on the new startup funding frenzy and valuations coming back to earth. 'The world now is much more sane.'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

He prefers getting to know founders long before they decide to raise money so he can pounce on the right opportunity. Investors, including hedge funds, hurtled term sheets at founders to beat the competition, skipping the usual diligence along the way. Flush with cash, the partners are seeing a flood of hyper-growth startups come to market for funding after a two-year dry spell. The funding blockage is also softening as valuations come back to earth, Costolo said. "Prices are a lot more sensible now," Costolo said, noting the exception of valuations in artificial intelligence.

Persons: Dick Costolo, Costolo, Costolo isn't, Adam Bain, Twitter's, Dario Amodei, Kimberly White, Getty Costolo, they're, Bain, David Fischer Organizations: Twitter, Business, Advisors, Software, Carta, TechCrunch, Google, Nvidia, Fund, Health Locations: Jackson Hole , Wyoming, Detroit

☆ Rippling CEO Parker Conrad dishes on why the startup is sitting on a massive $750 million war chest
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. To this day, Rippling hasn't touched the money it raised in that emergency package, Conrad told Business Insider. Rippling will invest hundreds of millions of dollars from the balance sheet into research and development this year, according to CEO Parker Conrad. Parker Conrad says Rippling hasn't touched any of the venture capital it raised over the last two rounds. Shepherding the startup through this next growth phase is new chief product officer Eisar Lipkovitz, Rippling told Business Insider exclusively.

Persons: Parker Conrad, Conrad, Rippling hasn't, Kleiner Perkins, Rippling, Amy Osborne, Mamoon Hamid, they've, TechCrunch, Eisar Lipkovitz, Lipkovitz, Deel, Melia Russell Organizations: Business, paychecks, Bedrock, Washington Post, JPMorgan, Google Locations: Silicon, San Francisco, Asia, Lyft, Rippling

AbridgeAbridge CEO Dr. Shiv Rao. AbridgeHQ: PittsburghTotal raised: $62.5 millionWhat it does: The medical scribe startup uses large language models to document patient-doctor interactions in electronic medical records. What makes it promising: Easing administrative burdens for providers is top of mind for investors as growing burnout drives more clinicians out of the healthcare field. Abridge is using AI to tackle one of the most time-consuming, burnout-inducing processes in healthcare — clinical documentation.

Persons: Abridge, Shiv Rao Organizations: Abridge, Pittsburgh

☆ Uncle Sam just overhauled the H-1B visa lottery, and that's good news for startups
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewA new reform to the US H-1B visa program aims to ring out some of the uncertainty for migrant workers and employers. Each year, tens of thousands of foreign nationals wind up at venture-backed companies through the employment-based visa program. However, obtaining an H-1B visa remains challenging due to high demand. Data shows much of the increase was due to a record-breaking number of employers submitting multiple H-1B registrations for the same person. "This led to many individuals being entered into the lottery multiple times, through different companies, and ultimately decreasing the odds of being selected in the lottery," Finkelman said.

Persons: —, Jason Finkelman, Finkelman, USCIS, Sophie Alcorn, Alcorn Organizations: Service, Immigration Services, Business, Tech Locations: Austin, Hyderabad, Beijing, Silicon Valley

☆ Startup funding is falling in most major cities. So why is Boston pulling ahead?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Melia Russell | Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

AdvertisementThe Bay Area took the lion's share of capital raised on Carta in 2023, followed by Boston, then New York. AdvertisementAccording to Carta data, select metro areas saw the total early-stage funding raised decline by at least a third from 2022 to 2023. Yet early-stage funding was only down 24% in Boston, however, the smallest decrease of the metro areas that Carta tracks. According to Carta data, about $2.6 billion of capital raised in biotech flowed to Boston startups last year. Beyond biotechThe Carta data shows Boston also had strong showings across investment in software-as-a-service and hardware.

Persons: —, Zach Weinberg, Roche, Carta, Founders, that's, Rudina Seseri, Seseri, Peter Walker, Michael Greeley, Greeley, Mark Castleman, Castleman, Clement Cazalot, Cazalot, Walker Organizations: Service, Massachusetts Turnpike, Partners, Business, Carta, Boston, East Coast, Companies, Area, Flare Capital Partners, pharma, Intel Ignite, Glasswing Ventures, Founders, Machinery, Pritzker Group, Armory Square Ventures, Way Ventures, Klaviyo's, New York Stock Exchange Locations: Boston, New York City, East, Boston , Cambridge, Newton , Massachusetts, Newark, Jersey City , New Jersey, New York, San Francisco, Bay, France, Copley

☆ Exclusive: VCs are circling Midi to give more money to the menopause care startup, just 4 months after its last funding round
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

At the White House, Jill Biden is leading a new initiative to boost federal government research into women's health. Most menopause care startups, including Midi, sell into enterprises to offer the service as a benefit to employees. US companies lose about $1.8 billion each year from workdays missed due to menopause symptoms, according to a Mayo Clinic estimate. While venture funding to women's health startups fell in 2023, according to CB Insights, startups tackling menopause symptoms surged ahead of the pack. Data shows these startups raised $230 million last year, making up a third of all funding to women's health startups.

Persons: hasn't, Semper, Joanna Strober, Sharon Meers, Goldman Sachs, It's, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, tailwinds, Michelle Obama, Jill Biden, Biden, workdays Organizations: Business, Midi, GV, Google Ventures, Felicis, Houston, Hermann Health, CBS, McKinsey, White, Mayo Clinic Locations: Midi

☆ Here are the 25 startups that sponsor the most H-1B visas for immigrants looking for work
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Melia Russell | Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The H-1B visa has served as a prominent pathway for skilled foreign labor into the American job market. The H-1B visa program is the nation's largest temporary work visa program, with over 600,000 workers across 50,000 employers. However, obtaining an H-1B visa remains challenging due to high demand. According to data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the 2024 H-1B visa lottery saw applications rise to a record-breaking 780,000. Using recent data from the US Office of Foreign Labor Certification, Business Insider put together this ranking of the top H-1B startup employers between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023.

Persons: USCIS, Jason Finkelman, Finkelman Organizations: Business, Citizenship, Immigration Services, White, Information, Regulatory Affairs, of Foreign Labor Locations: Hyderabad, Beijing

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