Melia Russell’s posts

Mar 21

Personal news: I'm launching a new beat at

@BusinessInsider

, exploring how AI is transforming legal and professional services! After covering Silicon Valley for a decade, I'm excited to drill into an industry on the edge of disruption. It feels like reporting on OpenAI in 2022.

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Someone (not saying who) is very afraid of Roomba.

Sep 24, 2021

I've been promoted to correspondent, writing about startups and venture capital at Insider!

Exclusive: A lawmaker and venture capitalists are teaming up to create a startup visa, providing...

Jul 25, 2021

SCOOP

A Silicon Valley lawmaker and venture capitalists are teaming up to create a startup visa, providing a path for immigrant entrepreneurs to stay. The bill will be introduced on Monday. Details here.

Expensify's IPO could make nearly all 140 employees paper millionaires, but there is a catch,...

SCOOP:

's IPO could make nearly all 140 employees paper millionaires, after the company surprised them with a 10% stock grant on listing day. "I think I'll just hold on to it," one employee told me.

The CEO of Expensify sent an email to 10 million customers urging them to vote for Biden. Then his...

Oct 30, 2020

SCOOP: After their boss emailed the company's 10 million customers saying vote Biden, Expensify employees have been under attack from fake customers and bots. But what's interesting, employees say the email has fortified their decision to work there.

Jan 6, 2022

With deals happening every day, PR people are struggling to place funding stories. Well, I’m working on two for next week! Here’s why their pitches worked for me. 1. Offered as exclusives 2. Disclosed valuations 3. Hit on a fundraising trend 4. Told an interesting company story

Oct 8, 2022

Friday news dump: I’ve been promoted to senior tech correspondent at

@businessinsider

I never thought I could have my dream job while working from the woodsy small town where I grew up, but here I am. #LFG

Replying to

The King of the North is the one true king.

Replying to

“Sure” really boils my blood

Our dog walker is moving. It kills me that Nubs has no idea. I wish I could warn him, comfort him. Best friends should never move away.

Y Combinator, Kleiner Perkins, A16Z, Banana Capital

RIP my sex life

Covid is sweeping through my family. Four generations hit. I’m taking two weeks off to care for my mini and me — send good thoughts our way

Replying to

This was a first for me.

Nov 5, 2016

This is how much marijuana it would take to kill you — from @davidschmader's excellent book, "Weed."

Here are 17 of the coolest startups created by ex-Coinbase employees

Dec 23, 2020

I did it. I found the worst startup of 2020 ... "a hookup startup for cruise-goers"

They built

into a $68 billion behemoth, and now, ex-employees are spinning up their own startups. Meet the Coinbase "mafia"

@_maggiehenry

and more!

Coinbase has a highly entrepreneurial alumni network. The so-called Coinbase mafia has raised more than $100 million for their startups.

A collection of witch NFTs is catching fire with women, generating over $20 million in sales....

Feb 15, 2022

I spoke to the female tech workers behind

@crypto_coven

, a collection of NFT witches that has carved a magical space in web3 for women and non-binary people.

The unofficial story of how Clubhouse founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth failed their way to a $1...

Clubhouse founders

have 9+ failed social apps between them. They essentially brute-force attacked their way to creating a new kind of app. Here's the story of their overnight success 10 years in the making.

@eladgil

@andrewchen

Oct 31, 2019

I'm burning cash! #Halloween #unicorn #startup #ipo

Aug 1, 2019

I stumbled on Craigslist's careers page, and holy smokes, should I become a JavaScript developer at Craigslist?

Here are 21 women in venture capital who made partner at major firms like Andreessen Horowitz and...

Jan 7, 2022

Every year, more women barrel through the doors of venture capital's boys' club. To toast their success, we're recognizing those who made partner or GP for the first time in 2021. Cheers ladies

Jan 25, 2022

I got pink highlights and no one noticed on my first day back at work so seeking compliments here

VCs predict that 'proptech,' a hybrid work model, and San Francisco's comeback are the tech trends...

Dec 29, 2020

IT'S HERE! Our annual round-up of the big tech trends to watch in 2021, according to VCs and super angels. In a nutshell, Silicon Valley is back. All-white, male boards are out. And SPACs? TBD.

29 women in venture capital who made partner or higher at firms like Andreessen Horowitz and...

Dec 8, 2022

At least 27 women in venture capital rose to partner or higher in 2022. We have the full list. Notably, a number of women launched their own funds, and

@lightspeedvp

hired five female check-writers. Cheers ladies

Andrew Yang wants to regulate big tech without breaking it up and says his fan Elon Musk is in full...

Mar 3, 2021

My husband is a startup founder and I joined his app’s TestFlight today. It was a big moment for both of us because I got my first name handle!

says tech wants to regulate tech, too. "There's this notion that techies are averse to any sort of conversation about guidelines on technology, and that hasn't been my experience. The technologists I've talked to, they're pretty reasonable."