People First: People First is the Hyde Park Angels podcast dedicated to deconstructing entrepreneurial success into actionable takeaways you can use today. Hyde Park Angels is the most active early-stage investor in Chicago with a commitment to taking a "people-first approach" to investing. By matching our members’ expertise with entrepreneurs’ needs, we help develop top-performing companies that are delivering extraordinary results. Host: Pete Wilkins
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The Chicago Capital Podcast explores the startup and Venture Capital ecosystem in the Windy City. Each episode will feature a prominent founder, Venture Capitalist, or Angel investor who plays an integral part in the city's entrepreneurial story. Join host Matt Castellini as he chats with guests about their career journey, their perspective on a particular market, and their thoughts on the Chicago VC and startup scene.
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Madelyn Rutter is the Director of Collaboration at TechNexus. She supports the Venture Collaborative with everything founder and partner success. That means growth, incubation, marketing, branding, and community, and helping corporate innovators achieve their goals by inspiring them to connect with the right entrepreneurs at the right time.…
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Rich is the CEO and Co-Founder of New Era ADR, a VC-backed technology company saving precious time and money for individuals and businesses, bringing long-desired yet never-before-seen certainty and predictability to the legal dispute process, up to 90% reductions in time and cost, and revolutionizing how disputes are resolved in the U.S. Previousl…
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Season 5, Episode 1: Anuraag Tripathi @ Manifest
25:07
25:07
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25:07Manifest enables seamless 401(k) transfers - maximizing retirement outcomes by reducing rollover administrative hurdles. Their team is building the infrastructure to digitize retirement transfers.By Matt Castellini
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Fox & Robin is an activewear brand that creates top quality products for all levels of activity, whether you're doing high intensity training or, well...not. As a Benefit Corporation, they are committed to conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner.By Matt Castellini
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S4E18: Ira Weiss @ Hyde Park Venture Partners on the Current Market Downturn
36:12
36:12
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36:12Ira Weiss is the General Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on high-growth, mid-continent technology startups. Ira is also a Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship and Accounting at The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. In this episode, we discussed the current market downturn and it's …
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Amplify offers end-to-end strategy, solution design and tactical execution of your optimal revenue solution. Strategy: Refining your Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy based on your industry, customer profile, value prop and competitive position Platform: Combining best in class processes, tools, and analytics to achieve and measure results Talent & Enabl…
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oak9.io is the security leader for all things cloud native. Their platform finds, analyzes and automatically remediates cloud infrastructure security and compliance issues in real-time, continuously learning and monitoring infrastructure as code (IaC) as changes occur - the only cloud native security solution supporting devsecops throughout the ent…
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With a background rooted in private equity and venture capital, Connor takes a data-driven approach to investing, but also enjoys observing cultural shifts in consumer behavior and applying those learnings to new investment themes. Connor works closely with management teams to gain insights and improve performance and enjoys the challenge of unders…
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Tessa Flippin is the Founder and Managing Partner of Capitalize VC, a pre-seed and seed stage VC fund purpose-built to reduce the racial wealth gap by investing in early-stage Black and Latinx founders, while simultaneously creating access for diverse LPs. Tessa began her career in venture capital as a venture investor at TechNexus, a Chicago-based…
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86 Repairs is the repair and maintenance management platform built for the restaurant industry. Our tech-enabled solution includes on-demand repair management and preventative maintenance. With 86 Repairs, restaurants have access to data-driven insights and 24/7 support to control their facilities, reduce their R&M costs, and spend less of their te…
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Jordan is the CEO and Founder of Rally, a headless checkout for modern brands. The company offers ecommerce merchants a better converting, more profitable, one-click checkout. Rally is on a mission to bring power back to merchants and app developers by equipping them with a headless and fully optimized one-click checkout solution. Rally is central …
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Tom Zhang is the Co-Founder and CEO of Zenblen. Zenblen is developing a tech-enabled smoothie bar that blends healthy, nutritionist-curated smoothies right in front of the consumer. They partner with high-frequented locations, such as gyms and office buildings, in our mission to make healthy-eating more convenient in everyone's daily routines…
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Declan Zidar and I sit down to discuss the past, present, and future of Chicago Capital. Tune in for a deep-dive on: Our professional backgrounds Starting a Podcast The catalyst for Chicago Capital Views on Chicago Startup Ecosystem Tips for breaking into VC (Pre-MBA and Post-MBA) General early-career advice Books and Resources we love Special than…
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Thru Shivakumar is the CEO & Co-Founder of cohesion, a smart building SaaS platform at the intersection of green, healthy, and operationally efficient buildings for CRE. With its building experience app, cohesion provides a secure, converged IoT-enabled software solution that unites core building workflows, optimizes portfolio management, and gener…
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S4E8: Jithendra Palasagaram @ Part Analytics
23:34
23:34
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23:34Jithendra Palasagaram is the CEO and Founder of Part Analytics, a Venture-backed startup focused on transforming direct material procurement by digitizing manual processes and harmonizing data from multiple disparate sources. Its AI-powered supply management solution with a modern and intuitive UI enables smarter data-driven decision making to opti…
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S4E7: Shawn Ellis @ Distributed Ventures on Transitioning to VC From Consulting and Banking, Operating vs. Investing, & The Strategy Behind Distributed VC
37:02
37:02
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37:02Distributed Ventures invests in companies that are transforming the future of risk across Insurtech, Fintech and Healthtech & Benefits. Their mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary entrepreneurs. They target companies seeking Seed to Series B investments that can benefit from NFP and other LP's distribution, human capital, an…
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Actuate's AI software turned existing security cameras that can automatically identify threats and occupant behavior patterns to support security and facilities management teams. Our core capabilities include: gun detection, intruder detection, crowd / loitering detection, social distancing detection, and mask detection. Backed by Tribeca Venture P…
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S4E5: Janice Tam Co-Founder & CEO @ TrueToForm
24:42
24:42
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24:42TrueToForm is a body scanning and data management platform that helps businesses create and sell clothing that fits. Their mobile application generates highly accurate avatars for apparel design and fitting. They use proprietary algorithms and computer vision to capture body shape and size in 3D, along with full body measurement extraction. Anywher…
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Heyday is the first interactive strength home gym for the 60+ to train for real life. Strength is the most important workout for better aging. Heyday is revolutionizing aging experience by making strength training safe, effective and fun. With low impact workouts, workout parties, encouraging trainers and personal resistance guidance, Heyday redefi…
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Garmentier is the first retail technology platform to transform the 1:1 shopping experience into scalable selling technology. They are an enterprise software company with marketplace capabilities, giving superpowers to stylists, salespeople and retailers alike. Garmentier enables a new level of personalization and humanization in omni-channel custo…
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S4E2: Jason Starr @ CompanyFirst on DTC Investing, State of Consumer, & Consumer Brands in Chicago
46:45
46:45
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46:45Jason Starr is the founder of CompanyFirst, a venture capital firm focused on investing in and building emerging consumer brands and companies. Before CompanyFirst, Jason was the fund manager at CircleUp in San Francisco, through which he invested in dozens of consumer ventures. Prior to CircleUp, Jason spent over eight years at Winona Capital Mana…
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Season 4, Episode 1: Ben Johnson @ Spruce
34:06
34:06
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34:06Ben Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Spruce, which develops a platform that enables individuals to receive services in their homes through a mobile app. From full housekeeping to a quick tidy-up or a dog walk for your furry friend, Spruce is available to residents on-demand. At the end of 2020, Spruce raised an $8M Series A, led by Mercury Fund. B…
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S3E20: Christopher Deutsch @ Lofty Ventures on State of Chicago Tech, Origins of Lofty Ventures, & Evaluating Founders
54:24
54:24
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54:24Chris Deutsch is the Founder of Lofty Ventures, which works with passionate creators, disruptive enterprises, and forward-thinking organizations to help them change the world. Focused on first-check to seed investments in early-stage entrepreneurs based in Chicago. 84 percent of Lofty's 61 startups are based in Chicago, and 74% are led by minority …
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S3E19: George Khalife @ Let's Grab Coffee Podcast
51:34
51:34
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51:34George Khalife is the Vice President, Midwest U.S. at TMX Group, a Canadian Financial Services Company that administers global markets and creates digital communities and analytic tools to help businesses, traders, and investors fund, grow, and succeed. George is also the Host & Founder of Let’s Grab Coffee, a podcast that strives to interview succ…
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Lava is a mobile app that empowers you to create, share, & discover social audio Your voice has a lasting impact on Lava. Record and share social audio seamlessly on our mobile app then go viral through the global feed that highlights audio clips from creators around the world. Build your audience through your profile and follow along as new commun…
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Hunt Club is a new category of search firm. Cold calling, spamming on Linkedin, impersonal mass reach out, treating candidates like a transaction v. a person... These methods no longer work in today's fight to attract the best talent. Hunt Club helps companies find amazing passive talent + give well-connected individuals (influencers) a direct chan…
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S3E16: Lindsay Knight @ Chicago Ventures on The Platform Model in VC & Chicago:Blend
50:12
50:12
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50:12Lindsay Knight manages CV’s Platform, or the firm’s “post-investment” team. She works directly with the firm’s 50+ active portfolio companies on matchmaking talent; connecting into customers; marketing, communication and PR; and building community, content, and events to help scale up and skill up more efficiently. She’s also a Kauffman Fellow, Cla…
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Patrick Larsen is the CEO and co-founder of ZenLedger.io, a blockchain saas company that delivers tax and accounting services to individual and cryptocurrency investors as well as to CPAs and crypto hedge funds. The company works with Big 4 accounting firms (high net worth practice), crypto whales, CPAs, and everyday traders. Zenledger has integrat…
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S3E14: Peter Johnson @ Jump Capital on Jump Capital's New $350mn Crypto Fund, & Stablecoins Investment Thesis
49:11
49:11
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49:11Peter Johnson is a Partner at Jump Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in data-driven software startups in the FinTech, IT & Data Infrastructure, B2B SaaS, and Media industries. They also invest in crypto startups and projects that are redefining what is possible in an open financial and decentralized network future. Jump makes high-convic…
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Dominic Go is the founder & CEO of Tambr, a streaming music service built for enhanced social connection while empowering the artistic community.By Matt Castellini
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S3E12: Alyssa Jaffee @ 7wireVentures on Trends in Digital Healthcare & Technology, & the Healthcare Industry in Chicago
41:20
41:20
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41:20Alyssa Jaffee is a Partner at 7wireVentures, an early-stage healthcare venture fund. She focuses on digital healthcare and technology-enabled services that enable customers to be better stewards of their health in today's shifting healthcare ecosystem. Alyssa serves on the boards of Higi and Ayogo Health, as well as Zerigo Health, NOCD, RecoveryOne…
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Tom Shea is the Co-Founder and COO of Adgile Media Group, the first ever tech-enabled, nationwide truckside advertising company. With data at the center of all that we do, Adgile delivers advertisers the biggest bang for their advertising dollar.By Matt Castellini
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S3E10: Justin Strausbaugh @ Lakeshore Ventures on Alumni Ventures Group, State of Venture Capital, & Deep Tech Trends
41:14
41:14
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41:14Justin Strausbaugh is the Founder and Managing Director of Lakeshore Ventures, which is part of the Alumni Ventures Group family of funds, one of the most active venture firms in the world with +$500 million AUM, 700+ portfolio companies and a community of 550K alumni from other top tier universities. Alumni Ventures was the #1 most active venture …
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S3E9: Troy Henikoff @ MATH Venture Partners on Ted Lasso, Early-Stage Financial Modeling, & Techstars Chicago
47:53
47:53
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47:53Troy Henikoff is a Managing Director at MATH Venture Partners, a Chicago-based venture capital business that invests in startups and early-stage companies. In this episode, we covered: Ted Lasso VC as an Ex-Operator MATH 100 Setting Numeric Goals for Founders Early-stage Financial Modeling Techstars in Chicago And much more.... Please Enjoy! You ca…
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In 2015, Nate and his three close friends co-founded Crafty to help companies create welcoming and healthy workplaces through a thoughtful food and beverage offering. Crafty’s platform provides a full-service food & beverage management experience: their on-site teams streamline daily operations, their Account Management teams regularly evolve their…
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S3E7: Samara Mejia Hernandez @ Chingona Ventures on Chingona's Investment Mandate, Raising Her First Fund, & Career Advice for VCs
50:09
50:09
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50:09Samara Mejia Hernandez is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Chingona Ventures, a Venture Fund that focuses on rapidly changing sectors and founders with experiences that uniquely position them to build startups in underserved growth markets. In this episode, we covered: Salsa Dancing to VC The COVID Effect The Growing Interest in VC Chi…
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Konrad Waliszewski is the CEO & Co-Founder of Tripscout - the #1 ranked trip planning app and a Top 5 content app in the AppStore with millions of users, 15M+ Instagram followers, and $6m raised in venture capital. He has visited approximately 100 countries and Forbes named him “the modern day Marco Polo.” Positioned at the intersection of consumer…
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S3E5: Victor Pasucci @ Energy Capital Ventures on the State of ESG Investing, Transitioning from Law to VC, & the Maturation of the Chicago Early-Stage Ecosystem
49:33
49:33
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49:33Vic Pascucci is the Managing Partner of Energy Capital Ventures, a Venture Fund dedicated to the natural gas industry's ESG imperatives and digital transformation. They provide the newest ideas and technological advances to the natural gas market by investing in category-defining companies. In this episode, we covered: State of ESG Investing Transi…
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We have hit the official 6-month mark on the show. We decided to round up the most downloaded episodes and my personal favorite moments from each of those episodes. I think the following excerpts do a good job of encapsulating the amazing and brilliant people that I have been lucky to interview in the past 6 months. This episode features: Ezra Gals…
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S3E5: Yelena Shkolnik @ Jump Capital on Recipe for Innovation, State of Sports Betting, & Streaming in '21
53:04
53:04
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53:04Yelena Shkolnik is a Partner at Jump Capital, a venture capital firm concentrating in Series A/B and growth stage investments, with a thesis-driven and sector-focused approach. Jump makes data-driven technology investments in the FinTech, B2B SaaS, IT Infrastructure, and Media industries. In this episode, we covered: Her Dreamworks background and a…
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A1Logic offers A1FILO Data Breach Prevention. A1FILO uniquely secures your data "in use", along with data "at rest" and "in transit". It stops data breaches from Malicious Insiders Compromised Devices Compromised NetworksBy Matt Castellini
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S3E3: Steve Sanger @ Evolv on State of Foodtech, Corporate VC, & Scaling Grubhub
48:27
48:27
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48:27Steve Sanger is the General Partner of Evolv Partners, a $100 million corporate venture fund that invests in early-stage digital businesses that are changing the food sector. In this episode, we covered: Scaling GrubHub Business Development within Startups State of Foodtech Corporate VC Breaking into VC And much more.... Please Enjoy! You can find …
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buddhi is the digital platform reimagining support for people coping with cancer. The company bridges the disconnects caused by cancer through content, community and curated products. They are on a mission to support healing across your entire cancer experience — regardless of time, diagnosis or geography. Because everyone could use a bud.…
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Season 3, Episode 1: Sean Johnson @ Manifold Group on Venture Studio Models, Operational Leverage, State of Podcasts
58:24
58:24
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58:24Sean Johnson is the Founding Partner of Manifold Group, a Chicago-based venture holding company. He is also a Partner at Founder Equity and an Adjunct Professor at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business. In this episode, we covered: The Studio Model of Manifold Finding Operational Leverage in Startups Marketing Through Podcasts And …
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Matt Silver is the founder and CEO of Forager, a logistics tech company that simplifies the process of shipping goods between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Before founding Forager in late 2018, Silver spent over a decade at Coyote Logistics where he led the expansion of their business in Mexico and Canada. Now with purpose-built technology and indu…
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S2E19: Jason Heltzer @ Origin Ventures on Breaking into VC, Mixing Disciplines as a VC, & Chicago's Diversified Economy
57:53
57:53
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57:53Jason Heltzer is the Managing Partner at Origin Ventures, a Digital Native economy-focused early-stage venture capital firm that invests in software and marketplace startups. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In this episode, we covered: Mixing Disciplines as a VC Origin’s Inv…
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Buoy is designing the simplest, yet most comprehensive revenue management tools for the global vacation rental marketBy Matt Castellini
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S2E17: Kurt Johnson @ 11.2 Ventures on Venture Builder Studios, Following Your Passions, & The Sales Process in VC
45:32
45:32
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45:32Kurt Johnson is the Managing Partner, CEO, and Founder at 11.2 Ventures, LLC, a Venture builder studio specializing in artificial intelligence startups. Kurt is also the Managing Partner & Founder at Trivium Fund and a Venture Partner at Purple Arch Ventures. In this episode, we covered: Transferable Sales Skills for VC His Passion for Writing 11.2…
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S2E16: Ira Weiss @ Hyde Park Venture Partners on Chicago Unicorns, Early-Stage Valuations, and Academia in VC
55:07
55:07
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55:07Ira Weiss is the General Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on high-growth, mid-continent technology startups. Ira is also a Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship and Accounting at The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. In this episode, we covered: From Shoe Salesman to VC Developing a …
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Valqari's patented intelligent mailbox that accepts manned and unmanned deliveries, such as drones and autonomous vehicles. Valqari Features and Benefits: Vault feature allows traditional deliverers to make theft-free deliveries Allows customers to make direct returns to shippers. Valqari's mobile application allows for customers to digitally sign …
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