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savefrog · 1 year

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I also had an experience at my Sunday School where they gathered us into a room, dimmed the lights and told us to close our eyes and god would talk to us. I believe they played a recording of a deep echo-y voice saying something.

I could NOT make out what it said. Other kids in the room said they could, but I think its very possible that the recording was made to sound vague so the listener could imagine they heard what they wanted to hear.

Very similarly to ghost recordings, I forget where exactly I heard this but I think it was this episode of Oh No Ross and Carrie (https://maximumfun.org/episodes/oh-no-ross-and-carrie/ross-and-carrie-hunt-ghosts-queen-mary-evp-mystery-edition/ Tumblr wont let me embed links on mobile lol ). They had a Ghost Tour guide who was a kind of supernatural-curious skeptic. He specifically would NOT say anything about what others heard in the recording before (and magbe after too) asking what people thought it said because he knew that once you hear someone's suggestion, your brain will fill in the gaps. (I have a lot of respect for skeptical ghost tour guides lol this episode was great because the ghost tour guide kept going "THOSE FOOTSTEP SOUNDS ARENT HAUNTED THEYRE JUST THE TOUR GROUP ABOVE US!!!" and stuff like that lol) The phenomenon also reminds me of this :

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So anyway all the kids were talking about what they thought they heard, and thus altering eachothers memories of the voice. They were able to connect the unclear words into something.

However, I already struggled with Auditory Processing stuff. I just kind of accepted that there were things I would not be able to make out. So I just heard god's booming voice say gibberish and was like "HEY UH GOD CAN YOU SAY THAT ONE AGAIN FOR ME PLEASE?". All the other kids were talking about what they heard (which, ironically, I ALSO couldnt process what they were saying in the excitement) and I was asking them like "WHAT DID GOD SAY AGAIN??? I DIDNT HEAR HIM OR YOU PLEASE REPEAT THAT??"

So yeah everyone else got a message from God that day except me lol I was accidentally saved from manipulation I guess?

#dullblogging #this was NOT what i would consider a hardcore church either #that one bible camp i went to is what id consider a hardcore experience #this church was pretty chill. they showed us a horror movie in the teen youth club once lol #so im still sort of baffled by this experience #religion talk

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mightytwogunkid · 5 years

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MCU Winterhawk/West Coast Avenger AU

I had an idea for a MCU west coast avengers/winterhawk AU, but I have to explain the AU first

half of it isn’t that important to the plot but

So it’s MCU based but then there’s a heavy canon divergence and some things are more 616 based

The first difference is obviously that Clint is a lot more like his more recent 616 self (think Fraction Hawkeye, Kate’s run as hawkeye, Occupy Avengers, West Coast Avengers, Captain America & Hawkeye, etc)

Also, Jarvis is a butler, not an A.I, since we don’t care if people think he’s too much like Alfred, but Tony worked on an A.I. (or two one J.A.R.V.I.S based, the other Friday based)

As for the events, everything happens the same up until Age of Ultron, where Wanda tries to get to Clint first, but Clint uses his super secret power a.k.a adopt stray, like he had on Natasha years before, the rest of the movie doesnt happen

So 1. Clint doesn’t have a secret family hidden in a farm, 2.Ultron is not built 3. Bruce is not lost 4. PIETRO LIVES

There’s a small difference with Captain America: Winter Soldier and that is since we arent constrained by actors schedules, that clint scene happened

Not that it makes a big difference in the grand scheme of the AU, but it appeases my mind

Tony does end up building Vision, but since AoU didn’t really happen and wanda didn’t put that vision of the future in his head, he’s taking it more slow and ends up using one of the A.I he was working on as the base for Vision.

The team works together, they look for Bucky, fight against Hydra, A.I.M. Doctor Doom, Aliens etc

Steve told Tony that bucky had killed his parents and Tony came to terms that Bucky was under hydra’s control

Also not that it makes a difference but 1. Peter is 23 and not a high school teenager, 2. the x-men and 3. deadpool exist and 4. So do the Fantastic Four and 5. Pietro mostly works with the x-men 6. Falcon’s Red Bird is an actual bird 6. Doctor Strange is like 70 years old in this AU, his car accident happened not because he was distracted by a screen, but he was reading some notes. He doesn’t age, so he’s forever 35

Oh and Pietro and Wanda are ROMANI

Okay so about Civil War, when ross comes knocking on Avengers Towers, Bruce looks at him in the eyes and tell him “Harlem was YOUR fault” and also “Pretend all you want, you haven’t changed. For you, it was always about having the power controlled by you.” and ross goes away

And to ensure he doesn’t come back, Tony hires attorney Matt Murdock to find a loophole to make the avengers not-privately-owned

Then, Bruce and Thor are bff (or boyfriends if you prefer) and go on a space adventure, Thor goes back to Asgard and Bruce tries to go back to earth but ends up on Sakaar. Thor Ragnarok happens

Then infinity war, so Thanos kills the people on the Asgard ship (including/especially Loki (i have plans for him, just wait)), he also kills Gamora. And Visions mind stone is destroyed, but since the Avengers + the Guardians + Doc Strange + Wakanda + the X-men+the Fanatstic Four+ the Defenders + Frank Castle + Phil’s SHILED team are all working together as a team, they defeat the purple grape.

Now more important to the AU, a lot of this part is based on the Young Avengers comics, but still based in the MCU

After the battle au Wakanda, half the Avengers retire. Harley Keener comes in and becomes Iron Lad. He basically takes the place of Nate/kang the conqueror as kid from the comics

“[...] he downloads the remnants of the destroyed Vision's operating system into his armor. This reveals a fail-safe plan created by the android to reform the Avengers should they disband or fall in action by locating the next generation of Avengers [...] Using this plan, [Harley] assembles his new team, the Young Avengers”

Harley recruits Teddy, the son of og Captain Marvel (Mar-vell) and a Skrull princess (this au is made before the Captain Movie comes out, so we don’t know yet if Mar-vell dies and if he does, then when but this is an AU so we just say that he wasnt dead around 2002), and Billy (who is, along with Tommy, the soul son of Wanda and Vision)), Eli, the grand son of a soldier who had received a trial of a super soldier serum. They later crash into Kate Bishop, who joins them and becomes Hawkeye. Together they bust Tommy out of juvie

Shuri is able to save Vision, but his memory/life experience is none existent, so he’s given a kid/teen body and he calls himself Jonas

Then most of the Avengers come back to being Avengers and Steve decides that the Young Avengers need training and supervision and names Clint as the leader/mentor of the YA (both because he thinks Clint is the best for the jobs but also to shut him up (Clint is always arguing with Captain America about how he could lead the team better than Steve))

Then most of the Young Avengers have to leave for College and they all decide to go to California together, Clint goes with them and they rebrand to the West Coast Avengers. Except Eli retires and stays in New York with his grandpa. Tony gives them a mansion they make their home/headquarters andgives them Jarvis (the human) (because can you really trust Clint to take care of himself and a bunch of college kids?) (and also by then tony has already finished the other A.I which, as you already know, he named FRIDAY)

Then America punches her way into the dimension and joins the team.

And since Scott lives in the West coast too, he and Hope work with the WCA avengers sometimes too. They also found out that Cassie Lang, Scott daughter, had powers because she used to sneak and used Pym particles so now she can size shift. She hangs out a lot with the WCA and joins then on missions sometimes but she’s like 16 (she argues that that’s the Age the YA started at tho but her mom is still protective of her)

Oh and then Thor brought in Loki who was reborn/reincarnated/resurrected as a kid, Billy aged him to a teen to make him more powerful

So all that was the world building, now we get to the premises of the fic

All this time, Bucky was still in hiding, in Romania, trying to figure out who he was. He’s no longer afraid of who he was, gets in contact with Steve. They have a tearful reunion.

Bucky gets along with Tony and Tony works on his arm. Tony works with Reed Richards (from the F4), Prof X (from the X-men) and Doctor Strange to ensure that Bucky is 100% free of Hydra (aka make sure the Trigger words don’t work ). (stupid note aside, Namor sees the four of them working together without him, thinks they’re excluding him from the Illuminati, goes to the King of the Inhumans who just ignore him , So Namor ends up planning revenge with Doom/making out with him)

Bucky still first weird around the Avengers and the relationship with Steve is weird because although Steve still gets into fights, he doesn't need protecting, Bucky has yet to find a purpose. So Steve sends Bucky to the one the guy who can understand Bucky the most, regarding mind control and also has a super power, which is “adopting strays”. In other words he assigns Bucky to the West Coast Avengers.

Which work out great because Clint is no longer the only full-time adult on the team (other than Jarvis, and Jarvis would say he’s the only adult there if you asked him) and Bucky has another blond accident-prone disaster he can protect.

So Bucky and clint get to know each other, bond, be kind of Dads(™), and fall in love

Oh and i didn’t say but Lucky’s there

#winterhawk au #west coast avengers au #my fic #my au #i wrote like 1300 words of an au i will probs never write #winterhawk

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adambstingus · 6 years

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Why were ditching Demo Days

Ross Baird Crunch Network Contributor

Ross Baird is the founder and executive director of Village Capital.

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I started to realize that Demo Days might be getting stale when an investor at one of our events told me to share the highlights after the pitches were done he would be out in the hallway with a beer.

Another time, an investor said he wanted to quit his job and build a startup that goes to pitch events on behalf of other startups. Id make a killing taking a percentage of the prize money! he told me. These things are rigged!

Think of a startup pitching for funding. What comes to mind? Its likely the Demo Day. A startup stands onstage, going through slides in front of a packed room, with expert judges onstage ready to give feedback. Maybe theres some prize money. Its an entrepreneurs best shot at getting the funding they need or at least some attention.

Except, as we at Village Capital have learned, Demo Days are not the best way to help most entrepreneurs get the funding they need. And in the long run, they are not helpful for investors, or the broader ecosystem in fact, they aggravate blind spots that investors already face.

Thats why we made the decision to ditch the Demo Day and why I encourage others to rethink how they support innovation.

Not to rain on the parade

The Demo Day first became popular in the late-2000s when a nascent group of entrepreneur support organizations, most notably Y Combinator, Techstars and 500 Startups, started to run structured programs with batches of startup companies: accelerators.

An accelerator typically works with a fixed number of companies over a fixed period of time, usually around three months. At the very end, the accelerator will usually run a Demo Day or Pitch Day. They announce an open-to-the-public, or at least open-to-investors, event. They gather key investors in the room and parade entrepreneurs onstage, with each founder pitching their companys concept with slide decks. Sometimes there is a grand prize for the company selected by a panel of judges.

Nearly every entrepreneur support program I know has adopted this format including our own.

My firm has run more than 75 Demo Days over the last seven years. Weve held Demo Days in concert halls in southwest Virginia, on college campuses in Miami, in wedding halls in Northern India and in co-working spaces in Accra. Were usually able to draw a crowd, and most everyone has a great time.

But over time, weve learned that Demo Days arent actually accomplishing what theyre supposed to: helping entrepreneurs raise money and meetinvestors. When we surveyed our companies and asked them where theymet investors, it was rarely at an actual pitch event.And the format privileges the ones who pitch well, rather than the ones who have the highest potential.

Recognizing the habit of pattern recognition

Investors, facing an onslaught of knowledge, often result to quick heuristics to make decisions. These heuristics can be helpful. From dont take candy from strangers to big animals = dangerous, heuristics have helped us as a society for thousands of years.

But as Whartons Laura Huang writes, in a pitch event format, these heuristics may bias against the best entrepreneurs. In her work, Whos the Most Attractive Investment Opportunity of All? Good-looking Men, she found, for example, that among businesses with similar fundamentals and markets, attractive people got funded more than unattractive people, and men were funded more than women. Overall, less than 10 percent of startup investment goes to women and less than 1 percent goes to people of color. And 78 percent goes to founders from three U.S. states.

The best investments happen because of relationships, not pitches.

Huang found that pitch formats exacerbated this bias: The same business pitched with a mans voice got considerably more interest than when it was pitched with a womans voice.

For entrepreneurs who dont pitch well or who dont fit investors mental image of a successful entrepreneur Demo Days may hurt more than they help. The preparation teaches entrepreneurs to focus on transactions more than relationships (when, in reality, an in-depth conversation after the pitch matters a lot more than the pitch itself).

The Demo Day format is not ideal for investors, either. If youre picking who pitches best, not who runs the best business, youre not getting the best results. You often have to sit and listen to a bunch of companies that dontfit your investment thesis in order to hear a few that do.And if youre caught up in the theater of it, you may not be making the best decisions on who to follow up with after the event.

Moving past pitches

So what can we do instead?

The best investments happen because of relationships, not pitches in fact, Ive never seen an investor make an investment decision, ever, as a result of seeing a pitch.

We realized that if were going to organize a day-long event with entrepreneurs and investors, and we have limited time and space, were better off creating space for investors to build relationships.

We didnt come to this realization alone. Emory University and the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative conducted an independent evaluation of our acceleration programs over the past seven years, and we learned the single activity that had the best results for entrepreneurs was building one-on-one relationships between entrepreneurs and investors.

If youre picking who pitches best, not who runs the best business, youre not getting the best results.

So instead of Demo Days, we changed the signature activity at the end of programs to something we call Investor Forums in order to provide initial diligence for investors, help startups improve their business and provide anenvironment for investors and startups to get to know each other.

First, we invite investors to meet with each company in the cohort for 20 minutes and ask initial questions. Next, we host mock board meetingswith investors and potential strategic partners, in which the entrepreneursdiscuss and receive feedback on one strategic challenge. Finally, we host adinner where the investors and entrepreneurs get to know each otherbetter a form of soft diligence.

This process is better for entrepreneurs, becauseit flips the power dynamic: Instead of standing onstage, racing through slides and beingpeppered with hardball questions, the entrepreneur and investor are sittingat the same table, the entrepreneur is leading the meeting and they aretalking through the business as equals. And they get to show skills likecritical thinking, relationship management and the ability to take and deliver on feedback: all more closely related to success than a slide deck.

Its better for investors, because instead of sitting in an auditorium, half-bored and half-interested, they can take a deep dive and add value.

Ultimately, were seeing this format yield more funds raised for companies: a better outcome for the region.

Improving the odds of success

Im not saying that entrepreneur support organizations should stop pitch events entirely. We continue to do public events to promote and celebrate startups; entrepreneurship is hard work, and most days are not that fun if youre the CEO of a startup having a community around you watching what you do can be fun. But at these events, the entrepreneurs talk for a minute, rather than five or 10, and dont need to prepare for weeks.

When were dealing with our most limited resource and time is always a limited resource we see other ways to be helpful to entrepreneurs and investors. Our mock board solution is just one idea; Ive seen other good ones, ranging from investor office hours to full-group design sessions.

Overall, if we want to improve the odds of entrepreneur success, we can innovate not just in the products and services we support, but also how we discover, develop and invest in companies. Getting rid of Demo Days is just one way to start.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/why-were-ditching-demo-days/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/173115732627

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allofbeercom · 6 years

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Why were ditching Demo Days

Ross Baird Crunch Network Contributor

Ross Baird is the founder and executive director of Village Capital.