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Hi friends! I’m back in SF, loving my new job at 1Password, and planning some pretty epic events for 2026. I’m also secretly hoping someone has a spare Portola pass for me this weekend. :)
Tonight, I'm hosting and attending a Founder/VC Dinner with dozens of investors. I’ll be there, so come say hi!
On Friday, we’re hosting a Women in AI with one of my favorite humans, Jeni Chang from Founder Institute SF. I’d love to see you there too.
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— Mariane Bekker
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This Week's Journal
We Weren’t Sure He’d Walk Again
Three months ago, my son Liam underwent surgery. Afterward, we weren’t even sure he would walk again.
This week, he climbed a hill.
It wasn’t a mountain. It was a paved path with a gentle incline, the kind most of us walk up without noticing. We might check our phones on the way or think about where we need to be next.
I stood behind Liam and watched him push his walker forward, one step at a time. Then I took this photo.
Since his surgery, there have been weeks of rehabilitation, hours of physical therapy, and countless small efforts this picture can’t show. When he reached the top, I looked back at the path behind him. The hill looked just as ordinary as it had before. I knew what it had taken for him to climb it.
I’ve been thinking about how we measure progress in tech. We celebrate the launch, the funding round, the big hire, the number that finally moves up and to the right. Those moments deserve to be celebrated. But we rarely see all the work that came before them: the failed attempts, the help someone had to ask for, the days when showing up was an achievement of its own.
And even when we reach a milestone, we’re often already looking for the next one. We get to the top of the hill and forget to turn around.
Liam is still recovering. There’s more physical therapy ahead. But this week, he climbed a hill, and I don’t want to rush past that moment just because there is more to do.
Maybe we can give ourselves and each other that same pause. See how far our colleagues have come. See how far our friends have come. See how far we have come.
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P.S. VIP members get into WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America and Founder/VC Dinner @ Pilot (and 1 more) free this week — it's where these conversations continue in person. If you'd like to be in the room, here's how VIP works.
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Join from anywhere — VIP members attend for free
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 | | Founders Weekly Check-In for Pre & MVP Stage | | Virtual · Wed, Sep 30 · 2PM-3PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Founders Bay Virtual Workshop: the Modern Builder: Vibe-Coding, AI-Accelerated Development, and Creating Market-Validated Products | | Virtual · Wed, Oct 14 · 11AM-12PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Founders Bay Virtual Workshop: Psychology of Selling for Founders | | Virtual · Wed, Oct 28 · 11AM-12PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America
Wed, Sep 23 · Paid event FREE for VIP
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Founder/VC Dinner @ Pilot
Wed, Sep 23 · Paid event FREE for VIP
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Women in AI Breakfast hosted by Founders Bay
Fri, Sep 25 · Paid event FREE for VIP
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In-person events in San Francisco — VIP members attend for free
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 | | Founder/VC Dinner @ Pilot | | SF · Wed, Sep 23 · 6PM-9PM PT | | FREE for VIP | | View event → |
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 | | Founder/VC Dinner - Atrium @ SF Gallery | | SF · Thu, Sep 24 · 6PM-9PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Women in AI Breakfast Hosted by Founders Bay | | SF · Fri, Sep 25 · 10AM-1PM PT | | FREE for VIP | | View event → |
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 | | Building for Resilience: What Makes a Company Hard to Kill? | | SF · Fri, Sep 25 · 6PM-8PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Opsera Flutter 2026: the AI-SDLC Summit | | San Carlos · Thu, Oct 1 · 2PM-8:30PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Assembling 2026 | AI Summit | | SF · Fri, Oct 2 · 10AM-6PM PT | | $79FREE for VIP | | View event → |
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 | | Digital Asset Yield Summit Singapore | | SF · Mon, Oct 5 · 6PM-6AM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Hyperliquid Forum by DAYS | | Singapore · Mon, Oct 5 · 6PM-2AM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Batter up San Francisco! | | SF · Tue, Oct 6 · 6PM-9PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Summit Napa Valley 2026 | | Napa · Mon, Oct 12 · 12PM-2PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | GLO Italy Retreat (10 People, 8 Days, 2 Cites) | | Italy · Wed, Oct 14 · 11PM-12AM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Orkes Shift | | SF · Thu, Oct 15 · 10AM-6:30PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Friday Flight Club: Female Founder Coworking & Lunch | | SF · Fri, Oct 16 · 11AM-3PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Family Offices & LP Dinner - ATIF Side Event | | SF · Mon, Oct 19 · 5PM-8PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Long Horizon: Physical AI Summit 2026 | | SF · Tue, Oct 20 · 8AM-4PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | One Way Summit 2026: the Flagship Event for Immigrant Entrepreneurship | | SF · Wed, Oct 28 · 9AM-6PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Funded Founder's Marketing Workshop: How to Scale to Series B and Beyond | | SF · Wed, Nov 18 · 8:30AM-7PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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In-person events in New York — VIP members attend for free
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 | | SF Frontier Summit '26 | | SF · Thu, Sep 24 · 3PM-8PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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More This Week
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