Ann Lai

Since @ELLEmagazine published my story, it's taken a bit to adjust to everything finally being in the open. Thanks so much for the outreach & support! Been seeing discussions about non-disparagement vs NDA--wanted to share what I learned the hard way. 1/x link.medium.com/04g8FHZ0qnb

Ann Lai says she was fired from Bullpen Capital after helping deliver a $145M fund tcrn.ch/3LnKXwW by @nmasc_

.@bullpencap fired @annisms! This is terrible news! For so many reasons! It’s yet another blow to underrepresented founders. Ann was one of the few investors investing in and supporting underrepresented founders *after the seed round* linkedin.com/posts/laiann_a…

And before we can compare companies’ performance (usually self-reported), we should (a) fact check & (b) make the data apples-to-apples (listen to the podcast if you’re curious what that means) This is just a tiny baby step to making venture capital more even of a playing field

Thanks @himinnie @TenOne10 for having me! Was so fun 💕 Venture should be about backing real scalable business, not who looks the part or what sounds cool this week. Diligence via actual data is just about deciphering the truth.

@jackie_ros Always 💕 💕 💕

Friends that review & help you shape your financial model at weeeee hours after a long day are the best kind of friends. Thank you @annisms my bad day yesterday ended on a sweet note thanks to you!

In all the madness today the 🌎 stopped still & we got to come together as female founders & celebrate each other. Building is hard but together everything feels possible. Thank you to all who joined us for #floatingwithfounders & to @bullpencap & @annisms for creating the space!

Bullpen Capital is at #SXSW with @annisms. We're looking forward to meeting our mentees before an afternoon on Lake Austin and #FloatingwithFounders.

Last year was a complicated year for a lot of companies, especially those out of consensus. We raised a new fund to continue to find, partner with and support these companies and their founders. medium.com/bullpen-capita… @bullpencap @ahpah @annisms @duncandavi @RMelmon

In case you missed our feature in the @wsj, @bullpencap GP @ewiesen gives the full story on Bullpen Fund VI on our blog. cc: @ahpah, @annisms medium.com/bullpen-capita…

Diligence is about figuring what actually works in a company and what’s real. Not about checking off a cookie cutter list of predefined KPIs. Properly assessing the quality of the data and making comps “apples to apples” is how we make the system more accountable and fair.

Congrats to @StevenMcCloskey and the @nanome_inc team on being named one of @MetaQuestVR's launch apps for the new pro headset! They continue to do awesome work helping to reimagine molecular science. cc: @annisms oculus.com/experiences/qu…

Nanome with Meta Quest Pro, yes, it is happening 💣 Today @Meta announced the revolutionary Meta Quest Pro @MetaQuestVR headset & Nanome is one of the official launch apps! Nanome v1.24 will be available on Oct 25th #meta #launchpartner #questpro #nanome prn.to/3VkoG7d

People want to help, and can't, so they confuse attention with action. They feel obligated to witness, even if watching causes little beside personal distress. Or they tell others not to bother deluding themselves by watching: which comes dangerously close to ignoring the war.

@imchristiepitts Today was a depressing one. Whenever it’s like today’s, I suck. Wordle 233 6/6 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨 ⬜🟨⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Big Monday vibes, Wordle ☹️ Wordle 233 X/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟩🟩 🟨⬛⬛🟩🟩 ⬛⬛🟨🟩🟩 ⬛🟨⬛🟩🟩 🟩⬛⬛🟩🟩 🟩⬛⬛🟩🟩

@terrapinion @ELLEmagazine Thanks! Tho that’s not even my most enormous coffee mug — look for the collection on my YouTube videos 😆

@annisms @ELLEmagazine Wow. What a terrible experience. Thank you for the fascinating article. And also, can we talk about that enormous coffee mug?! 😋

Since @ELLEmagazine published my story, it's taken a bit to adjust to everything finally being in the open. Thanks so much for the outreach & support! Been seeing discussions about non-disparagement vs NDA--wanted to share what I learned the hard way. 1/x link.medium.com/04g8FHZ0qnb

@IfeomaOzoma @Bosefina Absolutely — and the more people are aware of what they could actually cover and what they can say no to… the closer we’ll get to real accountability

Thank you @annisms for speaking truth to power and paving the way for more people to speak out. NDAs are designed to protect the employer and abusers in power. GPs and LPs hold an ethical obligation to change how NDAs are used to muffle voices: annlai.medium.com/non-disparagem…

@ghasker @ELLEmagazine I agree … or handful of them — hopefully if enough GPs and LPs request revisions — they’ll just actually update (especially now w the new laws and precedences that would potentially render existing clauses unenforceable)

@annisms @ELLEmagazine GPs and LPs have a role in driving this change, but there is essentially a single law firm that writes all these agreements, at least in Bay Area VC. Getting their template changed goes a long way.

If you're curious about my story, here's the @ELLEmagazine story by @stephcliff: elle.com/ann-lai/ Deeply grateful to have my story told after feeling like I couldn't have a voice (I've rarely tweeted since 2016) & to shed light on the ramifications of unchecked power

Honestly, clauses like these provide unbounded, unchecked protection for employers. Only when we reduce the threat against speaking out, can there be a change for true accountability. 11/x