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Hi Friends,
I just finished hosting our agent breakfast at Tesla and gearing up to travel to NYC next week!
We’re hosting a Founder/VC Breakfast on Friday so hope to see you there!
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— Mariane Bekker
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This Week's Journal
What if I fail?
What If I fail?
What if I fall?
What if I cry?
Yesterday, I had one of those days when anxiety seemed to come out of nowhere.
Nothing terrible happened. In fact, quite the opposite.
My life is moving faster than ever. Opportunities I once dreamed about are becoming real. I’m taking on bigger challenges, stepping onto bigger stages, and reaching for things that once felt impossibly far away.
I’m reaching for the stars. And suddenly, I’m terrified of falling.
My mind started racing.
What if I’m moving too fast?
What if I’m not ready?
What if I disappoint the people who believe in me?
What if everything I’ve worked so hard to build comes crashing down?
The questions kept coming.
And the strangest part was that nothing had actually gone wrong.
For years, I’ve pushed myself to dream bigger. To take risks. To build things that seemed impossible. To walk into rooms where I wasn’t sure I belonged and find my place anyway.
So why, when the things I’ve worked toward are finally within reach, am I suddenly so afraid?
Maybe we don’t talk enough about the anxiety that comes with getting what we want.
We talk about the fear of failure. The fear of rejection. The fear of never making it.
But what about the fear that arrives when you actually start making it?
When your dreams stop being hypothetical and become responsibilities.
When the stakes feel higher because you finally have something you desperately want to protect.
When you realize that the higher you climb, the farther you have to fall.
I’ve been thinking about that a lot.
Maybe courage isn’t the absence of fear. Maybe it’s being able to acknowledge that you’re scared without letting fear make all your decisions.
Because the truth is, I might fail.
But I’d rather fail than never find out what would happen if I just tried!
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P.S. VIP members get into Women In AI: Ambition Without Burnout @Snowflake and Agent Builders Breakfast with 1Password x Fou… (and 2 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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 | | ARE YOU ACTUALLY READY TO HIRE a SALESPERSON? | | Virtual · Wed, Oct 21 · 9AM-10AM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Founders Weekly Check-In for Pre & MVP Stage | | Virtual · Wed, Oct 21 · 2PM-3PM 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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Women In AI: Ambition Without Burnout @Snowflake
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Agent Builders Breakfast with 1Password x Founders Bay @ Tesla
Wed, Oct 14 · Paid event FREE for VIP
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Founder/VC Breakfast hosted by Founders Bay
Fri, Oct 16 · Paid event FREE for VIP
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LP & GP Mixer @ Focus Innovation Studio
Tue, Oct 20 · Paid event FREE for VIP
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 | | ELC 26 Eng Leader Happy Hour | | SF · Wed, Oct 14 · 4PM-6:30PM 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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 | | Founder/VC Breakfast Hosted by Founders Bay | | SF · Fri, Oct 16 · 10AM-1PM PT | | FREE for VIP | | 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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 | | 2026 UNIONAI SST GLOBAL LAUNCH | | United States · Fri, Oct 16 · 2PM-8PM PT | | $118FREE for VIP | | 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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 | | AI / Tech Investing Forum 2026 | | SF · Tue, Oct 20 · 9AM-6PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | LP & GP Mixer @ Focus Innovation Studio | | SF · Tue, Oct 20 · 5PM-8PM PT | | FREE for VIP | | View event → |
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 | | Executive Connect at Tesla | | SF · Thu, Oct 22 · 5:30PM-8:30PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Step 5 Preview Launch Night 🚀 @SF | | SF · Thu, Oct 22 · 6PM-9PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Hack With YOU @AWS Builder Loft | | SF · Wed, Oct 28 · 9AM-8:30PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Open Source AI Breakfast With 1Password X Founders Bay X You.com @ Tesla | | SF · Wed, Nov 11 · 9:30AM-12PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | The Credentials Tax: Why Women Prove it Twice, and Who's Charging Them | | SF · Tue, Nov 17 · 9AM-10AM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | AI Builders Breakfast With 1Password X Founders Bay X You.com @ Tesla | | SF · Wed, Dec 2 · 9:30AM-12PM PT | | FREE | | View event → |
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In-person events in New York — VIP members attend for free
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 | | Founder/VC Dinner at Norton Rose | | NYC · Thu, Oct 22 · 6PM-9PM ET | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Agent Builder Mixer W/ 1Password X Dust | | NYC · Mon, Oct 26 · 6PM-9PM ET | | FREE | | View event → |
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 | | Founder/VC Dinner at Civic Hall | | NYC · Thu, Nov 12 · 5PM-8:30PM ET | | FREE | | View event → |
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