The Summer 2017 issue of Silicon Slopes magazine features a cover story on Traeger Grills, a piece on the journey of Ryan Smith and Qualtrics as well as a glimpse into what it’s like raising venture capital as a female.

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Traeger Grills:

Vegetarians, be warned: this is a story about meat.

Succulent, flavorful, sizzling meat – grilled to inner-pink perfection, bursting at the seams with enough juice to make a grown man or woman cry. The kind of meat one posts to Instagram, where a picture is worth 1,000 words. The kind of meat you cut, eat and savor in silence, humbled by something so holy.

Ryan Smith: Lessons Learned:

On the morning Provo-based Qualtrics announced it had raised $180 million in a venture round that valued the company at $2.5 billion, I happened to find myself in a conference room at the company’s headquarters with co-founder and CEO Ryan Smith. With a hoarse voice due to all of the interviews he’d already conducted with news outlets across the country, Smith seemed to be in a reflective and thoughtful mood as we talked about the future of Qualtrics and growing Utah’s tech community.

Funding Females:

I need to start by telling you that I’m terrified to write this story. Because while I am a female, I’ve never tried to raise funds. And I’ve certainly never been tasked with deciding who should receive funds nor tried to navigate the complications that entails. Pretty much the only qualification I have to write this story is owning a computer and having access to the Silicon Slopes Medium account.

So instead of opining, I’m going to stick with the facts and the experiences others have graciously shard with me to address the problem.