This was a fun story to work on (and not only because I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream by naming my own index)

Remember all those VCs and techies who moved to Colorado during the pandemic? It seems like they're making an impact. While venture activity plunged just about everywhere in the U.S. last year, Colorado was more resilient than most: carta.com/blog/colorado-vc-2…

In Q4 2021, startups on Carta raised ~$62 billion in overall funding. In Q4 2022, they raised ~$12 billion. Was fun digging into a whole boatload of data and writing about the many, many ways things have changed for startups and VCs: carta.com/blog/state-of-priv…

Took a closer look at an interesting deal from today: A company that helped Pfizer speed up the clinical trials for its COVID-19 vaccine by a full month struck a $430 million deal with a private equity powerhouse forbes.com/sites/kevindowd/2…

The WIAA is recruiting for the Army now? An interesting development.

A bit on the nose to run a Lego trafficking ring from the place where the streets are made of bricks, but I'll allow it seattletimes.com/seattle-new…

A ranking of the coolest sports officials: 1. Hockey (sick spray stops) 2. Baseball (K calls, get to eject people) 3. Soccer (get to eject people and write their name on a card) 4. Basketball (T-ing people up) 5. Football (Have to deal with A/V issues) Dead last is golf

I think I wrote 61 newsletters about M&A in the third quarter. In case you didn't read them all (for some strange reason), here's a TLDR on a very crazy quarter in the multitrillion-dollar business of buying and selling companies: forbes.com/sites/kevindowd/2…

My Q&A with @chadbyers of Susa Ventures, the VC who turned a $250,000 seed investment in Robinhood into $400 million: forbes.com/sites/kevindowd/2…

The world's biggest private equity firms have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of the surging stock market in 2021. Since the start of the year: -Blackstone stock is up 79% -Carlyle is up 59% -KKR is up 58% -Ares is up 49% -Apollo is up 23%

In his book "Inside Money," @zacharykarabell tells the two-centuries-long story of Brown Brothers Harriman. Which is also, in a lot of ways, the two-centuries-long story of American finance: forbes.com/sites/kevindowd/2…

So far, this has been the busiest year on record for mergers and acquisitions. There are a whole lot of reasons why. forbes.com/sites/kevindowd/2…

I tried to explain why a new firm called Blue Owl Capital could be a model for the future of private equity: forbes.com/sites/kevindowd/2…

"Life would have been simpler if we were koala bears." Amen, brother. newyorker.com/magazine/2021/…

Great fact about the judge in the Elizabeth Holmes trial determining what will be admissible: "He ruled that she couldn’t argue that startup founders frequently exaggerate to attract money, but that only she was being prosecuted for that behavior." wsj.com/articles/elizabeth-h…

Dealmakers worried the pandemic would cause their business to evaporate. Instead, so far, 2021 has been the busiest year in M&A history: forbes.com/sites/kevindowd/2…

We've got appearances in my Deal Flow newsletter today from Ajit Pai, Thierry Henry and Jessica Alba, plus a $12.3 billion mega-deal, a $4.75 billion intersection of sports gambling and SPACs and a $22 billion buyout fund. Try it, you'll like it: forbes.com/newsletter/dealfl…

My first daily newsletter for @Forbes will be live in 15 minutes or so. Got my thoughts on regulators looking at a $40B semiconductor mega-deal, PE's place in soccer's new Super League, and a whole lot more. If that's up your alley, subscribe here! forbes.com/newsletter/dealfl…