Reham Fagiri

Considering a career in startups or VC? Starting today, I'm available for 1:1 calls on @Intro to help startup founders and aspiring VCs think through the path ahead. As the founder + managing director of Red Sea Ventures, we invested early in companies like Allbirds (IPO), Sweetgreen (IPO), Nest (acq. Google), Casetext (acq. Thompson Reuters), and Prose to name a few. What topics can we cover? ✔️ Finding product-market fit ✔️ The different paths to funding ✔️ Determining how much you need to raise ✔️ Building a VC firm ✔️ Careers in VC ✔️ Celebrity partnerships Honored to be alongside world-class Experts like Chris DeWolfe (co-founder of MySpace (sold for $675M), Scott Saunders (founder of Happy Money, valued $1B+) & Geraldine Martin-Coppola (former President of Goop). I’ll be donating 100% of the proceeds to Seeds of Peace

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So great to speak to Mohammed Islam on The Mo Show podcast last week! Watch the full episode here!

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I really enjoyed breaking in our new studio to sit down with Temporal Technologies Co-Founders Samar Abbas and Maxim Fateev for the latest episode of Founded & Funded. Temporal was founded in 2019 based on an open-source microservices orchestration engine project but is the result of a more than decade-long partnership between the two co-founders that spanned their time working on different iterations of the same thing at AWS, Microsoft, and Uber. In this episode, Samar, Maxim, and I dive into the challenges of building an open-source ecosystem while also working on a commercial offering and scaling a successful company, how to navigate and adjust a product roadmap in an ever-changing world of AI and large language models, and how to successfully build an early startup team, navigate through a CEO transition, and bring on a startups first independent board member. It's a very compelling conversation and a must-listen for every builder out there. Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gymf9sES Find other platforms and the transcript on our website: https://lnkd.in/ggRtnKtM Be sure to subscribe to our channel for more deep dives into cutting-edge technologies and the minds behind them. Don't forget to like, comment, and share this conversation if you found it valuable!

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One of my proudest moments as an investor occurred today as Alaffia Health announced its series A because it shows how the Aperture® Venture Capital vision of multi-level, multi-generational #impactinvesting is succeeding in the marketplace. Here’s the model in its most basic form : ✅As diverse fund managers with meaningful capital to allocate, we are changing the VC landscape every day just by doing our day jobs. ✅As Black/Brown investors with ~40 years experience collectively, Aperture GPs have access to talent /excellence that others do not, so our portfolio *organically* is more inclusive by race, gender and geography even while optimizing for financial outcomes (all about the alpha). ✅Our most successful portco’s are using financial #innovation to solve market problems that impact underrepresented demographics and underserved communities. Alaffia Health is a shining example of the impact portion of our overall fund thesis, and we couldn’t be prouder of TJ Ademiluyi and Adun Akanni, MPH, PMP - the dynamic brother-sister founder duo whose vision we have steadfastly supported on their journey. Congratulations to TJ and Adun from William Crowder and myself, as well as the whole Aperture team- Marjorie King Philip McKenzie Yves Louis-Jacques Tanvi Lal Michelle Dhansinghani Lisha Bell Katie Kelly Amy Chung Cindy Chong, CFA Brian Fernandes-Halloran Monroe France Jayden Pantel Darren Herman Evan Wladis Neal Triplett Thomas Scriven Peter Ammon Irina Bit-Babik Tim Milanich Rob Rahbari

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A new era of deep tech has emerged. First time funds will raise “unheard of” amounts of capital to fuel next gen deep tech startups - producing outsized, superior returns for LP’s compared to the rest. Prudent investors will act on this data and shift investment strategy as LP’s or risk being left behind savvy wealth managers and CIO’s / FO’s who saw this trend begin 4 years ago.

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Big shoutout to our team for pushing through and sticking together 🚀! As Y Combinator puts it, many founders get into the perception that a launch is like the Oscar Ceremony!!! We were no different, building and building for over a year for the launch day we anticipated. However, we soon realized it will never happens the way we expected it 😅! After restarting from scratch with a few mockups and a handful of pilot clients who were willing to take the risk, we built the foundation of REVAULT! The digital workforce for the highly underserved Supply Chain Operators market. It took us only 2.5 pivots and a full pilot year, to finally say we launched "AGAIN" (for the 6th time 🤣 or so)! Having found dozens of repetitive, boring, and time-consuming tasks which we tackled and automated for enterprises managing multiple sites. Putting our knowledge in production, transportation, and warehousing into play, we started with the tasks we hated ourselves the most back then. Fun fact: Data crunching is the most hated task in every industry. In a fast paced environment where every minute counts it wastes up to 3hrs per day for each employee. Thank you DB Schenker, DB SCHENKER | STARTup terminal [·], kooky., Raus for your trust and support.

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Excited to share some thoughts from my recent conversation on the VC10X podcast. We dove quite a bit into the importance of product-market fit in Hard Tech 🎙️ ·     One key insight I've gained from working with Hard Tech companies at Pangaea Ventures: The difference between good and great product-market fit often shows up in the growth patterns. ·     Many Hard Tech companies show linear growth - put in a dollar on manufacturing and sales, get a predictable return. But when you've truly nailed product-market fit, something magical happens: the growth curve becomes exponential. ·     We look for companies where $1 invested this year yields significantly more return than the same dollar did last year. That's when you know you're onto something special. That's the inflection point where linear becomes exponential. ·     This pattern has been a reliable indicator throughout my time at Pangaea, helping companies navigate their early growth stages, build high-performance teams, and cultivate excellence. Thanks to Prashant and the VC10X podcast for having me on to discuss the evolving Hard Tech ecosystem. What patterns have you observed in successful Hard Tech companies? Would love to hear your thoughts.

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As you may know, I recently joined the Sanabil 500 MENA accelerator program as a first-time founder of Octa. Just had my pitch on Demo Day last night, and - what an experience! 🚀 I wanted to share some of my learnings with you all and thought I can inspire someone who is also a first-time founder! 🌟 Key Learnings: ☑ Embrace the learning curve ☑ Build a strong network ☑ Stay resilient and adaptable ☑ Take initiative ☑ Celebrate small wins Embrace the learning curve Being a first-time founder is like riding a roller coaster with no seatbelt. There’s so much to learn every single day. I’ve realized it’s totally okay not to know everything. Staying curious, asking tons of questions, and learning from everyone around me has been key. Build a strong network The support from the Sanabil 500 MENA community has been amazing. Connecting with mentors, fellow founders, and investors has given me so much guidance and encouragement. Seriously, building a strong network is like having a superpower. Building strong relationships is key as the majority of these are driven by trust. Stay resilient and adaptable I have been doing this only for the last 4 months but I can really attest that startups are a wild ride with lots of ups and downs. Staying resilient and adaptable has helped me keep going. Focusing on the big picture and being ready to iterate when things don’t go as planned is so important. Take Initiative Being proactive is everything. Whether it’s seeking feedback, trying out new ideas, or tackling problems head-on, taking the first step has always led to progress. Don’t wait, just do it! Celebrate small wins Startup life is crazy busy, but celebrating small wins is a must. These little victories keep the team motivated and energized. It’s the small things that add up to big successes. I’m so grateful 🙏 for the opportunity to be part of the Sanabil 500 MENA accelerator program. It’s been a transformative experience, and I’m super excited about the future of Octa. Thanks to everyone who has been part of this journey! 🙌 Sanabil Investments 500 Global

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Five years ago, my partner Nisha Dua and I left corporate life and formed BBG Ventures, convinced that a rising generation of founders from diverse communities and backgrounds were poised to build transformative companies in a rapidly changing America. Today we’re announcing a new $60M early-stage fund to continue that work, and releasing the research that informed our investment thesis: The Mind of Polycultural America: A Look at Identity, Priorities and Behaviors (https://lnkd.in/eGzP3f2r) We’ve always looked around corners to identify shifts in behavior and attitudes. But several years ago, Nisha began describing the changing face of the country as the American Polyculture; and last year we set out to better understand it. That research – a survey of 2000+ people, large enough to be statistically relevant across race, gender, age, income, political party, and geography – reveals a number of surprising insights. Americans today define their identities based on a unique perception of their place in the world, which will demand more nuance and personalization in the platforms and products we bring to market; but we have surprisingly common priorities, needs and concerns across nearly every age group, race and gender. The research also confirmed our belief that a diverse cross-section of founders who understand first-hand the challenges and opportunities in our polycultural future will have a competitive advantage in arenas that still need transformation: health, education, financial security, workforce support and climate safety. Thrilled to be on this journey with my partner of more than decade, Nisha Dua, plus the stellar BBGV team: Claire Biernacki, Carol Magalhães Isaacs, Drew Silverman Fennessy, Addison B. Marsh, Jr. If you know a founder transforming the way we live in one of these categories, send them our way. Thanks Leena Rao for the coverage on Business Insider! https://lnkd.in/eRb5Vv3R

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The above is all true, and I'd like to add a really important point. In the Bay Area, I observed that startups collaborate, partner, meet, etc - all in the spirit of the best possible user experience as an end in itself. The startups work together more. It's easy to get a meeting, you can basically show up to someone's office, just walk in, and you're welcomed. Founders work on "cool" experiences or tech first, and worry about financials second. In NYC I found the reverse to be true. It's harder to get a meeting with a founder. When you get one, it's like going to the dentist; the EA schedules a meeting with you 6 weeks in advance, upon arriving you sit in lobby and you wait until you are called. The meeting is transactional, a "novel" user experience or excitement around a technical breakthrough is rarely a main topic. It's much more transactional. This isn't a criticism in any way, it's just an observation that I believe explains why there are less household tech names coming out of NYC. Because if you look at the household tech names in the world - they always put the user first.

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It's been just over 3 years since we announced Patron and our Fund 1. A lot has changed in both the startup ecosystem as well as the venture capital ecosystem in that time. 2021 was a year that saw an explosion of companies raising venture capital funding, and a record number of new venture capital firms raising initial funds. Even then it seemed clear that the venture market was bifurcating - you either needed to be a large multi-stage fund with the ability to lead rounds from Series A to pre-IPO, or you needed to go early and specialize at the pre-seed and seed rounds. The emerging manager ecosystem seemed to coalesce around the latter, and we were no different at Patron as we strived to build a leading seed-focused firm investing in the future of consumer. We were fortunate to have a handful of peers who were one fund ahead of us, managers like Rick Zullo at Equal Ventures and Nico Wittenborn at Adjacent were two of note who were generous with time and insights as we were first getting started. It was also clear that there was a market forming around the idea of organizing the emerging manager ecosystem and creating a stronger bridge connecting new managers with LPs interested in investing in them. I was glad to join my peers the last few weeks at 2 incredible events focusing precisely on this part of the venture world - the EMC Summit organized by the Equal Ventures team, and the RAISE Global Summit. The EMC Summit continues to be one of my favorite industry events I make time to attend each year in New York. It is the real life event built around an amazing online community which lives in Slack and has connected me with 100+ fellow founding GPs of emerging firms. It is the best opportunity to reconnect with peers and to share experiences, learnings, and ideas with people who are going through very similar experiences. It's also a great way to hear from and connect into larger institutional LPs who have been somewhat active in investing in emerging managers in recent years. That said, we haven't ever met any Patron institutional LPs there so my focus has always been spending time with my peers. This was the first time we've been accepted to participate in the RAISE Global Summit, and I had the privilege to share Patron's story with the attendees of the conference. Unlike the EMC Summit which feels more centered on the emerging managers themselves, Raise feels much more focused on being an LP centric event, with the aim of helping a broad array of LPs ranging from large institutions to individual family office investors learn about new managers. Given that we had recently raised and announced our Fund 2, it was nice to focus more on sharing about how positioning and focus as a firm, and less on actually trying to fundraise. We hope to continue to be an active part of the emerging manager community and ecosystem. We've certainly learned a lot in the last 3 years and hope that we can start to share more of these learnings as fund founders.

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Machiavellian leaders at the helm, prioritizing self-interest over all else, raise concerns about the true essence of freedom and democracy. Factors like greed, envy, and fear (the toxic triangle) have historically constrained freedoms, making it easier to manipulate the uninformed than the enlightened. Let's heed the warnings against propaganda, cronyism, sexism, nationalism, and the suppression of human rights. Leaders must govern, not just campaign, and uphold the law above all else. In a world where selfishness masquerades as moral superiority, let's reject divisive narratives based on skin color or religious beliefs. After all, we all live in the shelter of each other. Good leaders will guide with positive influence and educational materials; bad leaders will misguide with misinformation and propaganda. “All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.” - Adolf Hitler The lessons of history tell us that if we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle ‘Machiavellianism’ is a real thing and a major component in the toxic triangle of destructive leadership. As we navigate the complexities of globalization, let wisdom guide us, not misinformation or mystical panaceas. Thomas Jefferson once warned… And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter. But we may hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away all this artificial scaffolding...

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We recently led a $9.5M seed round in Zeno, our very first energy transition company in Africa. Michael Spencer and the team are now officially out of stealth sprinting towards their first products - a swappable battery compatible with an electric motorbike of their own design. Their opening market is Kenya, where 3M+ boda boda taxi drivers are eager to find ways to shave costs down. With Zeno's battery subscription model, they'll make 50% in savings compared to owning a petrol counterpart! Going electric will soon become the obvious choice. Kenya is just the start. Over the next quarter century, Africa will be home to the largest share of young people in the world, and is set to double its population to 2.5 billion. Talk about a growth market. Zeno has a particularly special place in our hearts because Harsh Dubey, who hustled his way into Lowercarbon Capital right out of college and became an institution around here, built up so much conviction in this company that he's moved abroad to work on this rocketship full-time. That should tell you something. Congrats again to the team, read more here for the deep dive. #tech #climatetech #energy #mobility #battery #electric #africa #emergingmarkets

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Last night Brex hosted a great event bringing together early-stage founders and VCs. There were several instances where founders I was speaking to would pull in other founders that were fundraising to meet me. Even after I left, I got a call from @Albert Katz (co-founder Flagler Health) introducing me to another founder. This was a real eye-opener as it portrayed the stark contrast with how non-competitive founders are with each other vs. VCs competing against each other for dollars and rarely introducing LPs to each other. Founders supporting founders vs. VCs competing with VCs. It's a tale as old as time, but why does this dynamic persist? 1. Shared struggle: Founders intimately understand the challenges of building a company. They've been in the trenches and know the true value of a helping hand. 2. Abundance mindset: Successful founders often believe there's enough opportunity for everyone. They realize that another founder's success just brings more attention and dollars into the startup ecosystem. 3. Network effect: Founders recognize that a rising tide lifts all boats. More successful startups mean more resources, talent, and opportunities for everyone. 4. VC zero-sum game: Limited LP capital creates a competitive environment where one VC's win can feel like another's loss. 5. Reputation building: VCs are constantly vying for the next big deal and recognize that LP capital can be scarce. Supporting competitors doesn't align with this goal. So, what can we learn from this? As investors, we need to adopt more of the founder mentality. Collaboration over competition can lead to better outcomes for everyone involved. Another VC fund's success instills more confidence into the asset class which benefits all GPs. Founders, keep supporting each other. It's one of your greatest strengths and a key differentiator in what makes the startup ecosystem so magical. Question for VCs: How can we shift our mindset to foster more collaboration without compromising our fiduciary duty to LPs?

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Some thoughts after spending some time with a handful of builders and investors in NYC this past week! 1. New York City is quietly fostering one of the most vibrant and underrated consumer founder communities in the country. This ecosystem is bursting with innovative energy, driven by founders who are deeply embedded in culture and consumer behavior. For those who haven’t tapped in yet, I strongly recommend paying attention—it’s a hotbed of potential that’s primed for growth. 2. Understanding and valuing consumer products demands more than just financial acumen; it requires a deep understanding of culture, trends, and human behavior. Many investors are stepping away, not because the space isn’t viable, but because they lack the nuanced taste and cultural insight necessary to identify and nurture truly impactful consumer products. This gap presents a massive opportunity for those who “get it” to dominate the market with culturally relevant investments. 3. In today’s world, a product or service that lacks a strong community component is missing the mark. Community isn’t just an add-on; it’s the foundation upon which modern consumer brands are built. Doubling down on building and nurturing a community around your product can create a powerful network effect, driving organic growth and fostering long-term loyalty. 4. The next wave of consumer social platforms won’t look like the traditional social networks we’ve become accustomed to. Instead, we’ll see social experiences seamlessly integrated into other aspects of daily life, such as fashion, education, and real-world interactions. This evolution will redefine how we connect, share, and engage, creating new opportunities for innovation at the intersection of technology and everyday life. 5. Simplicity wins — In a world overflowing with options and information, simplicity is the ultimate competitive advantage. Products and services that cut through the noise with straightforward, intuitive designs and clear value propositions will stand out. Complexity might seem impressive, but simplicity is what drives adoption and sustained success in the consumer market.

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Excited to announce Frist Cressey Ventures' investment in Qualified Health and privileged to partner w/ SignalFire, Healthier Capital, Town Hall Ventures and others!   Healthcare costs are increasing at a faster rate than ever before, with the US spending nearly twice as other wealthy countries and still ranking bottom in outcomes. It's a story you've all heard - - US healthcare is known for astronomical inefficiencies, waste, workforce supply constraints, fragmented access, appalling patient experiences, and driving patients and businesses into debt.   Yes these problems present opportunities. But opportunities are limited to the system's appetite for change, desire and incentive to try something new and the innovation available. At FCV we believe we've hit the trifecta with Generative AI. Generative AI has given us truly transformational tools in the toolkit and the healthcare ecosystem is demanding to absorb its benefits. This perfect collision of supply and demand means healthcare is poised for big change.   Generative AI is everywhere, it's buzzy, it dangles hope and opportunity. But many things need to be true for the Gen AI transformation in healthcare to take hold, such as but not limited to:   💡 Patient lives and data need to remain safe: We believe in a highly regulated and human life-touching sector such as healthcare we must ensure Gen AI can drive to unrivalled savings and improvements in the quality of care WHILE not putting patient lives or data at risk.   💡 Systems need to own their utilization of Gen AI: We believe systems will use some hybrid of external partners and homegrown solutions but importantly will want full control of data provisioning and utilization as well as the ability to solve an unlimited number of nuanced issues and not cookie cutter algorithms.   💡 Costs need to be looked at on an enterprise level: We believe the speed of innovation in Gen AI means costs will continue decreasing dramatically but at an enterprise level this will still not be a small detail. Systems will want the ability to understand costs and delegate as needed for the outcomes desired at the organizational level.   Enter Qualified.   We knew when we met Justin Norden, MD, MBA, MPhil and team we were standing in front of changemakers. These individuals have lived and breathed the true application and implementation of Generative AI far before we were asking ChatGPT to write our emails. In fact, if you’ve ever driven in a Waymo you’ve benefited from past products this team has built.   Qualified Health is on a mission to enforce governance in Gen AI, allow systems to rapidly build for their needs, monitor and make decisions for all GenAI (homegrown and external) and accelerate the value the sector can glean from these new technologies.   Huge shout out to William T., Tommaso Auerbach and Jamie Kuntz for their hard work!

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Halfway through our Y Combinator batch, over 60% of the startups in our cohort (including us) were stuck pivoting. That’s when Paul Graham flew in from England to talk about finding a great startup idea. Here’s what he told us: 1️⃣ Turn off the three ‘bad idea filters’: By turning off the ‘bad idea filters’ in your head, it instantly becomes easier for good ones to emerge. 1/ The sanity filter: Often, the greatest startups come out of ideas that originally seemed insane. So don’t shut down ideas because they seem impractical. For eg, when Airbnb started, no one ever thought people would let strangers sleep in their homes. 2/ The money filter: Money is important for a startup, but if you’re able to drive strong growth without generating revenue, don’t discard the idea. For eg: JustinTV (now Twitch), began with a guy live-streaming his life with a camera strapped to his head. There was no revenue stream initially. 3/ The schlepp filter: Don’t dismiss an idea just because it seems like too much work. For eg: Stripe had to handle unholy amounts of legal and regulatory work to get banks onboard their payments platform. Still, they did the hard work, and Stripe solved a problem that hundreds of their contemporaries were afraid to work on. Often, the impractical hard work becomes the moat that protects your startup from competition. 2️⃣ Don’t build for boomers   If you’re only building for boomers, your company will die with them. Whatever you’re building needs to become popular amongst the younger generation. If you’re a college student and you find a lot of your peers using what you’re building (and not just because they’re your friends), it could well be the start of something big. 3️⃣ Stop thinking all the best ideas are taken As founders, we often come up with an idea only to realize another company has already built it. We then find ourselves wishing that such other company didn't exist. You need to throw that mentality out the door. One quote I’ll always take away from PG’s talk is that there are billions of years of existence left. It would be practically impossible (and quite frankly depressing) for all the good ideas to run out by 2024. These tips really helped us zero in on what we’re building today. At our last startup, Desklamp, we’d spend weeks on end producing each feature launch video. During our pivot phase, PG’s talk inspired us to ask ourselves if we could automate that process using AI. That bold question led us to Clueso (YC W23): end-to-end AI automation for producing software videos for companies. #startups

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Big announcement below! 👇 Let's talk about the current state of GP-LP affairs: 🤯Emerging VC managers have absolutely exploded over the past 5 years. 📈 At the same time, more and more data has surfaced that shows that emerging VC firms tend to outperform larger, established firms. 🤔 All of this has made it intriguing but tough for LPs to know where to direct their attention. 🛍 GPs frequently meet LPs at conferences who are window shopping but not committed to the asset class or emerging managers. 🧾 And both crews get overwhelmed by transactional convos. So Sydney Paige Thomas and I created Abundance. Abundance is a private, nomination-based retreat for active LPs and top emerging GPs to form new experiences together and build lasting relationships. Why Abundance? Abundance is knowing that there is more than enough for more than one to succeed. And a single win within a community is a win for the community itself. The journey of an emerging VC manager from 1st close to final close or Fund 1 to Fund 2 is (1) communal and (2) requires an abundant mindset. LPs look for structure and confidence to feel comfortable investing in early VC firms. Yet many of the feeds we scroll and conferences we attend reinforce inherent power dynamics and transactional thinking, which allows scarcity mindset to creep in for emerging GPs. Some of the best events I’ve attended have been intentionally non-transactional, e.g. Camp Hustle, Recast Summit, and other GPs’ AGMs. The fundraising success stories we see usually involve a community (usually of other GPs & LPs) coming together to support and open doors for the emerging GP. We designed Abundance to be an immersive gathering that fosters these connections. Starting tonight, ~100 GPs and LPs are descending upon Seattle for the inaugural Abundance retreat. This has been under wraps for months and I can’t wait to see it come to life! Thanks in advance to our awesome sponsors who were the earliest believers in this vision: Sydecar, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Gunderson Dettmer, & Zelda Ventures. And shoutout to my dad Ed Illig for logo design & Halle Kaplan-Allen being the first sponsor to say yes 🤩 Presented by The Council Capital & Symphonic Capital.

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