Hi Friends,
I’m heading to NYC and Boston next week for an East Coast Speaking Tour and hosting my first NYC event. If you are there, join me! If you haven’t connected with me yet, connect me on Linkedin, X and Instagram!
🔥 Featured Events
Feb 26 - Virtual | 11am PST | Founders Bay Virtual Workshop: Build Credibility Before You Build a PR Budget
March 11 - NYC | 6PM - 9PM | YouCode Forum: Building What's Next in The Agentic Era
March 19 - SF | 6PM - 9PM | The Edge of AI: Builder Night @ Tesla with You.com × Founders Bay
Love is a bird.
She needs to fly.
I grew up in a brutal civil war.
Every day was uncertain.
You never knew if you’d see the people you loved again.
Safety was not guaranteed.
And then one day, we left everything behind.
New country. New language. New life.
When you grow up like that, you grow up holding on.
You hold on to people.
You hold on to stability.
You hold on to anything that feels safe.
Because you’ve seen how quickly everything can disappear.
That wiring doesn’t just go away.
It follows you into relationships.
Into business.
Into leadership.
Holding on can look like loyalty.
Like strength.
Like commitment.
But sometimes it’s fear.
Fear of loss.
Fear of starting over.
Fear of letting go — even when something no longer fits.
And here’s what I’ve had to learn:
Love is not holding on.
Love requires freedom.
And freedom requires trust.
Trust that if it’s real, it stays.
Trust that if it leaves, you will survive.
Trust that you don’t have to grip something to keep it.
Love is a bird.
She needs to fly.
Not because she doesn’t care.
But because she refuses to live in survival mode forever.
The greatest shift of my life wasn’t moving countries.
It wasn’t building companies.
It was realizing I am safe now.
And when you finally feel safe,
you stop loving from fear.
You start loving from choice.
- Mariane
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Upcoming Events
Thursday, February 26 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
PR shouldn’t feel like a line item you’re afraid to touch. In this founder-focused session, Gina Milani, seasoned PR Pro and founder of PRToolFinder, demystifies public relations for early-stage startups and growing companies navigating launches, fundraising, and traction-building.
Wednesday, March 4 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Join Holly Roland, Founder & CEO of Rebel GTM, for a hands-on virtual workshop designed to help founders turn their websites into powerful revenue engines. Learn how AI can optimize your site’s performance, content, and user experience to attract, engage, and convert visitors more effectively.
Wednesday, March 4 - 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
To celebrate International Women’s Week, we’re bringing together some of the most inspiring female founders and VCs under one roof.
Join us for an evening of conversation, connection, and shared learning as we explore how we can accelerate progress toward greater gender diversity in tech — and support more women building and investing in the future.
Wednesday, March 4 - 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Join RocketRide's launch event featuring a panel discussion on IDE-native AI development, live demos, and the release of our first open-source project. You'll leave with practical insights on building AI pipelines directly in your editor and early access to tools you can use immediately.
Thursday, March 5 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Early-stage founders often rely on gut instinct when making sales decisions—but intuition alone doesn’t scale. In this workshop, fractional GTM & Sales Leader Laura Garrison will teach founders how to build simple, actionable sales reporting that reveals what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus next. You’ll learn how to make informed, data-driven decisions without needing a data team, BI tools, or complex dashboards.
Wednesday, March 11 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Navigating U.S. immigration can be one of the biggest challenges for startup founders and growing teams. This virtual workshop is designed to help founders, operators, and early employees understand the immigration pathways available to startups and their workforce—so you can plan with confidence and avoid costly missteps.
Wednesday, March 11 - 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Join You.com and Veris AI for an exclusive AI salon in NYC! Connect, learn, and explore the future of AI with fellow innovators on March 11. Don’t miss this chance to network, share ideas, and see what’s next in AI.
Sunday, March 15 - 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Use FB10 for 10% off
Renaissance 2026 is AI+’s flagship summit bringing together the founders, researchers, and engineers defining the next decade of intelligence.
Over two days on the weekend between GDC and Nvidia’s GTC, we convene 40 AI leaders, 20+ top AI startups, and 2,000 founders, builders & investors to explore frontier breakthroughs across Multimodal Intelligence, Agents, AI Infrastructure, Embodied AI and Robotics.
Thursday, March 19 - 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Join us on March 19th for an exclusive evening of AI insights, hands-on workshops, and networking with top AI experts at Tesla Van Ness – SF
With live music from Bisi Obateru.
Wednesday, March 25 - 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Join us for an exclusive evening designed for founders who have raised $1M+ for their current company. This private dinner brings together a select group of high-growth founders, with limited spots reserved for aligned investors looking to connect in a meaningful, intimate setting.
Enjoy curated conversations, shared learnings, and a panoramic penthouse view—perfect for building relationships that move companies forward.
This dinner is proudly supported by Fidelity Private Shares.
Tuesday, March 31 - 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Join MongoDB for an exclusive Women’s History Month celebration at Rikki's Women's Sports Bar!
The event will feature a panel discussion and happy hour focusing on the theme "Women in AI," bringing together leaders to share insights on the evolving AI landscape.
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Hi! I'm Mariane Bekker. I’m the founder of Founders Bay, connecting founders with expert guidance, events, and funding opportunities in the Bay Area. I’m also Head of Developer Relations at You.com, and we just raised $100M to grow our AI Search Infrastructure!
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