Allison Byers

Happens a few times a year in my town and our temple always has extra security. My kids are one of only a handful of Jews in their grades. Email from this week:

Not meaning to hijack your post, and I’m not your candidate, but this is my world. If there’s an opportunity to use your platform to create real impact by shedding light on what most founders actually experience, not the ones we currently see in the news, I gladly raise my hand to help. 🙂

This type of reporting is sorely needed. There’s a huge opportunity to include real-world stories that reflect the diversity of founders, not just those who are VC-funded. In H1 2025, only 0.8% of VC $ went to women. In 2024, just 0.4% went to Black founders. These founders demand a spotlight.

A graphic with title text at the top that says “AG Andrea Joy Campbell is suing the Trump administration for imposing an unlawful $100,000 fee on H-1B visas.” Under the text there is an image of a hand holding a passport and another hand holding several hundred dollar bills fanned out. Behind the images is a gradient of the following scent repeated throughout the graphic that says the following, “ physicians, researchers, nurses, teachers, surgeons”

H-1B visas help U.S. employers fill critical staff shortages in our schools, hospitals, and research institutions.

I won't stand by as the Trump Administration imposes a massive fee hike that harms our residents and economy.

Watch what they do, not what they say.

Senator Marsha Blackburn tweets: "We're going to build a big, beautiful Golden Dome."

Am I crazy or did we just have a convo about how we can't fund cancer research?

Neither of our kids (14 & 11) knew the beans, beans musical fruit rhyme. Like, had never even heard about it. How is that possible?

Fundraising for the Rest of Us A radically practical guide to navigating the opaque, biased world of startup funding. Built for underestimated founders by one who’s been there.

Fundraising advice isn't written for most of us. So I'm writing the book that is.

If you’ve ever felt like the fundraising advice out there wasn’t meant for *you*, my book "Fundraising for the Rest of Us" *is*.

Help shape this book by becoming a beta reader! allisonbyers.beehiiv.com/subscribe

My dog just barked at my stomach growling.

I started a firestorm back when Twitter was a useful place, and I feel it's only right to make this statement here as well.

Black licorice is delicious.

Many companies that rolled back DEI policies are quietly bringing them back - WTOP News More than half of companies that have done away with DEI policies or scaled them back say it was political pressure or public scrutiny that led to the decision.

💥 A new survey "indicates 20% of leaders at companies who’ve rolled back DEI policies say they are bringing back DEI initiatives, but quietly, not with public fanfare."

wtop.com/business-fin...

There goes another women-focused program. Cool timing, Dell.

Georgia bans organ donation of someone who died w/o their consent—but Georgia’s 6 week abortion ban is now forcing a brain dead woman to stay alive w/o her consent because she was 9 weeks pregnant when she went brain dead.

Even a corpse in Georgia has more rights over its body than do women & girls

Weber: I'm glad you're addressing us instead of speaking to the camera.
…
AOC: There are 13.7 million Americans on the other side of that screen. Hello. I’m talking to you because I work for you. They deserve to see what is happening here..

Breaking: federal district court orders North Carolina to certify state supreme court election for Democrat Allison Riggs & rejects Republican attempt to overturn election and throw out thousands of votes. Huge victory for democracy & fair elections www.courtlistener.com/docket/69489...

Proposed budget change by agency

The Trump budget in one chart: Cut programs that help families and make America a leader of the world, pour money into kidnapping grad students and deporting toddlers.

You can be ambitious without losing yourself. You can build something real without collapsing.

Let's stop making collapse the price of founder admission.

Scroobious is a startup too, and I'm doing my best to build and lead through this lens. I've raised over $11M across my companies and I've never been more intentional about how I think about capitalization. I'm forging a different kind of success story; one where your company thrives and you do too.

There are more capitalization options now than ever. Companies like Scroobious are building the infrastructure to make them accessible so that founders can fundraise on their terms and connect with aligned capital that values sustainability over sacrifice.

We need to ask - returns for who? At what cost?

In 2024, just nine firms secured the majority of the $71 billion raised by U.S. VCs.

What if we redefine success? What if we stop rewarding the burnout arc? What if we see sustainability and balance as signs of strong leadership?

Founders pitch their stories to investors, but investors have also pitched us a story. In their version, the "founder mode" archetype wins because they believe that kind of personal sacrifice leads to outsized returns for themselves and their limited partners.

So, why *is* this the standard? Why is the ideal founder one who sacrifices everything? A lot of that narrative comes from venture capital.

That version of "founder mode" gets glorified in startup culture. We treat overextension like a badge of honor. We celebrate martyrdom as commitment. And we wonder why so many brilliant founders burn out or disappear.

I went "founder mode" and ended up with shingles in my 30s.

Not metaphorical burnout. Actual, body-shutting-down, stress-induced illness.

I did what we're told to do and tied my identity to my business. I pushed through everything and made it look like strength.

Thinking about devastating cuts to NSF: US gov-funded science has been the engine upon which most of the tech wealth was generated. But the oligarchs (currently hoarding much of that $) think it’s their own brilliance & not the accident of standing close to the scientific engine that made them rich.

Tweet from Pete Hegseth: This morning, I proudly ENDED the “Women, Peace & Security” (WPS) program inside the @DeptofDefense. WPS is yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops — distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING. WPS is a UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists. Politicians fawn over it; troops HATE it. DoD will hereby executive the minimum of WPS required by statute, and fight to end the program for our next budget. GOOD RIDDANCE WPS!

There's strong evidence that women's participation in security efforts makes countries safer.

That's why leaders in over 100 countries have taken action to further it.

One of them—who signed the U.S. Women, Peace & Security Act into law in 2017—was Donald Trump.

If you've had one of those days when all you really need is a baby bear trying to catch snowflakes, here's a baby bear trying to catch snowflakes.

Remember when navigation systems were widely adopted, and people drove into lakes because they blindly followed the directions on the screen?

I feel like we're witnessing that with AI-generated content: total reliance and faith in the output, despite what we see in real life.

Just incredible

Listening to Brandi Carlile this afternoon. You should too.