Christine Hong

We invest in founders who are reshaping outdated industries. We believe in a world where top tier fintech products help the 99% grow their wealth and build businesses. Where everyday people have transparent, efficient, and attentive healthcare experiences. Where managers and front-line employees in legacy industries have tools that save time, increase transparency, and take minutes to learn (vertical SaaS).

Hustle Fund is a venture capital firm investing in hilariously-early pre-seed founders. Learn more about Hustle Fund and pitch us here: hustlefund.vc If you are here to learn about ANGEL SQUAD, youve come to the right place. We help teach professionals how to invest in startups alongside Hustle Fund. Learn how we do this here: https://hustlefund.vc/squad

The Orleans Public Defenders Office (OPD) aims to provide the citizens of Orleans Parish and each eligible client with the highest quality, client-centered legal representation in Louisianas criminal justice system - zealous, conscientious, caring, professional, ethical and skilled - whether in criminal, municipal or traffic court. OPD is a community-oriented defender office built upon that zealous defense of the poor and indigent while acknowledging the strengths of clients, families and communities. Established in 2007, OPD represents nearly 20,000 court-appointed clients each year.

Headline is a venture capital firm with teams on the ground in 8 cities around the world. We invest across geographies, stages, and sectors, from consumer and fintech to infrastructure and software. Once we commit to a team, we go to the ends of the earth to make their success global. Our Early Stage Funds, based in the US, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, back Early Stage companies locally, while our Venture Growth Fund invests globally from Series B and beyond. This allows us to see local trends up close, partner with winning founders, and lead rounds at every stage. Among the 300+ investments globally, current and former Headline portfolio companies include Acorns, Angi, AppFolio, Bumble, Bitwarden, Creditas, Farfetch, Fetch, Gopuff, Honeycomb, Mistral AI, NGINX, Numa, Pismo, Raisin, Scopely, Segment, SEMrush, Sonos, Staffbase, The RealReal, and Yeahka.

NY DeepTech curates small dinners and events for the founders building New Yorks next wave of frontier technology. Apply to join at nydeeptech.com

At Techstars NYC, we back founders who move fast and build with deep customer insight. We help them tap into New Yorks unmatched ecosystem—home to enterprise buyers, world-class hospitals, financial institutions, media leaders, and climate innovators—so they can rapidly test, iterate, and reach product-market fit. Beyond our accelerator, were home to Engineer Village—a weekly community where NYCs top technical founders come together to focus, build, and connect. Learn more: engineervillage.com

FemBuild Collective is a community for female engineers and technical founders in NYC & SF. We host monthly events, provide mentors, and foster relationships for our members. Sign up here if youd like to join: https://fembuildcollective.com/

In an era where founders lives are glamorized and their stories are romanticized narratives of seemingly endless success, the behind the scenes reality of the highs and lows of being a founder often don’t come to light. Alongside the headline of a young entrepreneur going from rags to riches is the untold story of years of toil and failed experiments. Alongside the charismatic, confident founder you see in the media, is the human grappling with imposter syndrome and the constant pressure to perform. Not to mention, the average founder looks a lot different than just Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg. Alongside the startup with a high valuation is the string of risky decisions, maxed-out credit cards, and grueling late-night chats. Alongside each polished story, there are real challenges, unsung heroes, and unique highs & lows that make every second of the founders journey worth it. Or maybe not? We will let you decide. These are the true, unfiltered short stories behind the founders of today. Delivered to your inbox every Tuesday. Enjoy :) If you know someone with a unique founder story who would like to share their BTS journey of founder life - the highest highs and the lowest lows - please feel free to refer them at diariesfounder@gmail.com.