PODCAST · business
Startup Ignition Podcast
by John & Tyler Richards
Father and son team John and Tyler Richards — veteran entrepreneurs, venture investors, mentors, and educators — discuss all things entrepreneurship and venture capital.
Episodes
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Peter Harris: GP of a Student-Ran VC University Growth Fund, OpenAI, Anthropic, passing on SpaceX
Peter Harris had the chance to invest in SpaceX at a $20 billion valuation, and passed. One of his students was the team lead on that deal, pounding the table ("it is Elon effing Musk"), and was the first person to text him the day SpaceX went public. Today SpaceX is worth about $2 trillion.…
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Bubba Page: I Lost Myself In Startup Failure, Techstars, LinkedIn, Angel, Faith, Influencers, 8 kids
Bubba Page borrowed $5,000 from his parents to join a six-founder BYU startup, sold his stake two years later for a 10x return, and got paid half of it in office chairs (everyone in his family got one for Christmas). From there he bootstrapped LaunchLeads, a tech-enabled sales company, to…
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Arian Lewis: Kiln Coworking, Follow Your Gifts Not Passion, Real Estate, WeWork, Barclays, Oxford
Arian Lewis grew up in Provo watching his single mom turn a 12-kid daycare into a 320-kid childcare center with 50 employees. Today he's the co-founder and CEO of Kiln, the hospitality-driven coworking and flex-office company with 24 locations (37 by end of 2027), 150 team members, and 3,500+...
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Sterling Jones: From Mom's Kitchen to Every Costco, $100M in 3 Years, JoJo's Chocolate, CPG
Sterling Jones was a BYU sophomore with no major when his mom, Jody "JoJo" Jones, started making protein-packed dark chocolate bark on a cookie sheet while fighting cancer. Twelve years later, JoJo's Chocolate has done over $100 million in revenue in the last three years alone and sits in every...
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Adam Sidwell: Worked on Pirates & Transformers, Now Betting His Studio on AI, Gaming, VFX
Adam Sidwell spent nine years inside Hollywood visual effects — ILM, Weta Digital, Digital Domain, Sony Pictures Imageworks — working on King Kong, Pirates of the Caribbean, iRobot, and Transformers, starting at $13.64 an hour writing code for blockbusters. Then he walked away to scratch a…
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John & Tyler: Is Your Startup Idea Actually Good? AI, Vibe Coding, Steve Blank & Idea Validation
No guest this week — John and Tyler take on the question every founder is asking in 2026: how do you know if your startup idea is actually good, now that AI can build almost anything in a weekend? They start with Steve Blank's Lean LaunchPad 2026 write-up — his Stanford teams talked to 978...
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Clint Betts: You Are Not Your Career, Silicon Slopes, Burnout & Identity, Utah Tech, Community
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, John and Tyler sit down with Clint Betts, CEO of Silicon Slopes — the nonprofit at the heart of Utah's tech ecosystem. His path is one of the most unlikely in Utah tech: foster care and adoption in Spanish Fork, a journalism degree from UVU, and a...
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Clint Betts: The Job That Put Him in the Hospital, Silicon Slopes CEO, Burnout, Utah Tech
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, John and Tyler sit down with Clint Betts, CEO of Silicon Slopes — the nonprofit at the heart of Utah's tech ecosystem. His path is one of the most unlikely in Utah tech: foster care and adoption in Spanish Fork, a journalism degree from UVU, and a...
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Brock Blake: Lendio CEO, Small Business Funding, SBA Loans, Bootstrapping vs Debt vs VC
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, John and Tyler sit down with Brock Blake, co-founder and CEO of Lendio — the small-business lending marketplace that has facilitated more than $17 billion in funding and is now originating roughly $150 million a month across 6,000–7,000 loans with...
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Brian Murphy: Fundraising $25B Across 44 Funds, $73B Merger, Private Equity, Secondaries, Buffett
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, John and Tyler sit down with Brian Murphy, co-founder and former managing partner of Portfolio Advisors — the private-markets firm he helped build from a single contract into a global alternatives platform that raised roughly $25 billion across 44...
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Joseph Woodbury: The Airbnb of Storage, marketplaces, moats, raising $75M from a16z
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, John and Tyler sit down with Joseph Woodbury, founder and CEO of Neighbor — the "Airbnb of storage" that has raised over $75 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Pelion, and Album to build a nationwide marketplace across all 50 states. Joseph breaks...
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Morgan Lynch: Pioneering the Gig Economy, LogoWorks, HP Exit, Needle, Build Angel, Startups
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, John and Tyler sit down with repeat founder Morgan Lynch. Morgan shares his extensive and impressive entrepreneurial journey, starting from his early days working at a small software startup in a basement to founding groundbreaking companies like...
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Cahlan & Colt: 10-Year DevMountain Reunion, Bootstrapping, Bootcamps, Acquisitions
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, John pulls off a massive surprise on Tyler by bringing in his former DevMountain co-founders, Cahlan Sharp and Colt Henrie, for a special 10-year reunion of their company's acquisition. They dive deep into the origins of the legendary coding…
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Carine Clark: 4x CEO, First Colony Mortgage, Resilience, Beating Ovarian Cancer, Introvert, Leader
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, Tyler and John Richards sit down with Carine Clark, a four-time president and CEO of high-growth companies and the current CEO of First Colony Mortgage. Carine shares her incredible journey from an extreme introvert raised in a military family in...
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Matty Gay: Building Primo Golf, Signing Phil Mickelson, Grant Horvat & Ecommerce Apparel
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, Tyler and John are joined by Matty Gay, Co-founder and CEO of Primo Golf Apparel. Matty shares his incredible entrepreneurial journey, from working at a local country club for free golf to climbing the ranks as a product manager at foreUP. He…
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Blake Modersitzki: Pelion VC, Venture Returns, AI, War Stories, Top Deals & Scale
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, Tyler and John welcome Blake Modersitzki, Managing Partner at Pelion Venture Partners and a foundational figure in the Utah tech ecosystem. Blake shares his incredible journey—from working as a security guard at WordPerfect, to running Novell...
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Cap Table Red Flags: AI Rewriting Startup Investing, SaaS, Solopreneurs, Founder Splits & Vesting
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, Tyler and John Richards go solo — no guest, no fluff — just a father-son tag team sharing the startup truths they're seeing every day in the trenches. They kick things off with a Masters Sunday recap (congrats Rory on the back-to-back green…
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Matt Holman: E-commerce Subscription Playbook, CPG, From Prison to Profit
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, Tyler and John Richards sit down with Matt Holman, co-founder of Q Pilot and Commerce Catalyst. Matt shares his incredible life journey, from a 15-year incarceration to becoming a highly respected entrepreneur and e-commerce community builder in...
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Jon Richards: Nomatic, E-Commerce, Margins, CPG, Crowdfunding, Retail, Sourcing
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, Tyler and John Richards are joined by Jon Richards, co-founder of Nomadic (Nomatic). Jon shares the incredible journey of taking a simple minimalist wallet on Kickstarter and transforming it into a $30+ million travel gear and bag empire. He dives...
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Jeremy Andrus: Traeger Grills, Brand Moats, Company Culture, Scaling, Going Public
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, John and Tyler sit down with Jeremy Andrus, the visionary serial entrepreneur behind the explosive growth of Skullcandy and Traeger Grills. Jeremy shares his gritty journey from a middle-class paperboy to Harvard Business School, navigating the…
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The Truth About Product Market Fit, PMF, Customer Interviews, Lean Startup
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts Tyler and John Richards dive into a special Q&A session to answer the most pressing questions from their community of founders. Before getting into the startup advice, they celebrate a recent Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl victory and play a fun...
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Dan Caffee: Sold Teem to WeWork for $100M, Startup Mistakes, Personal Family Tragedy
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, Tyler and John sit down with Dan Caffee, a veteran entrepreneur, investor, and the current CEO of Voiso. Dan shares his incredible journey through the Utah tech scene, from his early days bootstrapping companies to the massive success of Teem, a...
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Sam Stoddard: TurboTax for Immigration, YC, VC, Exits
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we sit down with Sam Stoddard, the co-founder and CEO of Simple Citizen—a platform often described as "TurboTax for immigration." Sam shares his journey from an accounting student at BYU to navigating the complex US immigration system for his wife,...
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Matt Stapleton: Turning Excel Sheets into $480M, SaaS Ideas, Strategy, Startups
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we sit down with Matt Stapleton, a multi-time founder who recently exited Spiff to Salesforce for nearly $480 million. Matt shares his journey from "dialing for dollars" as a commission-only rep to building and exiting two successful FinTech...
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Dave Bateman: How he kept 60% of a Unicorn, Entrata, Bootstrapping, Magic Mushrooms, Silver, Scaling
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, Tyler and John sit down with Dave Bateman, the co-founder and former CEO of Entrata, one of Utah’s most successful SaaS unicorns. Dave shares his incredible journey from running a letter-delivery service for missionaries to bootstrapping a...
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Cydni Tetro: Disney R&D, Innovation, 3D Printing, Brandless, Startups, Coke, Tenacity, Women in Tech
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, Tyler and John are joined by Cydni Tetro, a serial entrepreneur, tech executive, and absolute legend in the Utah tech scene. Cydni takes us through her remarkable career journey, from balancing a computer science degree while hex editing networks…
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John & Tyler go over the Carta Q3 Pre-Seed Analysis, Early Stage Trends, VC, SaaS
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, Tyler and John Richards break down the latest data from Carta’s Q3 2025 State of Pre-Seed report. They analyze the current venture landscape, discussing why funding has seen a seasonal decline, the bifurcation of round sizes into "tiny" and…
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Ryan Westwood: Slow Down to Speed Up, His $250M Exit to Infosys, Buying 7 Competitors, Scaling
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we sit down with Ryan Westwood, a prolific entrepreneur and investor who recently scaled Simplus from zero to 600 employees and sold it to Infosys for $250 million. Ryan shares his incredible journey from weeding gardens to earn his first pair of…
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Paul Ahlstrom: The Origins of Nail It Then Scale It, Market Timing, Utah VC, AI
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we sit down with Paul Ahlstrom, a serial entrepreneur, investor, and one of the key architects of the Utah venture capital ecosystem. Paul shares his incredible journey from early failures—including a software bug that wiped out his first business...
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Johnny Hanna: Entrata’s $4B Journey, Homie’s Disruption, and Entrepreneurs Mental Health
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we sit down with Johnny Hanna, a true legend in Utah Tech. Johnny shares his incredible journey from co-founding Property Solutions (now Entrata), a company now valued at $4 billion, to disrupting the real estate industry with Homie, and his latest...
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Adam Weber: Sold Service Business to Build a SaaS Startup, Fundraising, Pest, Finding Confidence
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, host Tyler Richards sits down with Adam Weber, the co-founder and CEO of Driven, a SaaS performance management tool for the home services industry. Adam shares his unconventional journey from feeling like an academic underachiever to becoming a...
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Jeff Kearl: The Playbook for Iconic Brands, Stance, Skullcandy, Entrepreneurship
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler Richards sit down with Jeff Kearl, a partner at Pelion Ventures and a legendary entrepreneur in the consumer products space. Jeff shares his incredible journey, from his early days in venture capital to co-founding iconic…
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David Bradford: The Master Connector, Wozniak, Jobs, Gates, Eric Schmidt, Sergey, Novell, Microsoft
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we are honored to host David Bradford, a true OG of Utah tech. David takes us on a journey through his iconic career, from his early days as a Hollywood lawyer to becoming the General Counsel at Novell during its legendary battles with Microsoft.…
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Jeron Paul: From Spreadsheet Idea to $419M Exit, SaaS, Salesforce Acquisition, Founder Journey
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler Richards sit down with 4x founder Jeron Paul. Jeron shares the incredible journey of his latest company, Spiff, from a simple idea to replace commission spreadsheets to a stunning $419 million acquisition by Salesforce. He...
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Startup War Stories That Will Save Your Company | Equity Splits, Bad Investors, Hiring
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler Richards dive into the most popular part of their boot camp: the war stories. They share real-world, personal experiences to illustrate fundamental startup principles. The episode kicks off with a rapid-fire icebreaker,...
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Ben Knell: Building a $100M+ Sales Engine, Family & Leadership, FBI, Pest Control, Business
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler Richards are joined by Ben, the founder and CEO of BK Marketing. Ben shares his incredible entrepreneurial journey, from his early days in door-to-door alarm sales to revolutionizing the pest control industry. He details the...
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Jeff Burningham: From Real Estate Tycoon to VC, Startups, Becoming Wise in the Age of AI
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler Richards sit down with Jeff Burningham, a seasoned entrepreneur, prolific investor, and now, author. Jeff shares insights from his incredible journey, from launching his first tech company in college and co-founding the...
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Case Lawrence: From Elon's Lawyer to Trampoline King, Sky Zone, Startup, Founder Story
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler Richards sit down with Case Lawrence, the visionary founder behind Circus Trix, now known as Sky Zone. Case shares his incredible journey from being a Silicon Valley lawyer for tech pioneers like Elon Musk to facing...
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Kurt Workman: Owlet Baby Sock’s $100 Million Journey | Startup, SPAC, FDA, Turn Around
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we are joined by Kurt Workman, the co-founder of Owlet. Kurt shares the deeply personal story that inspired the creation of the Owlet Smart Sock, a device that has now been used by 1 in 10 babies born in the US. He takes us through the entire...
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Don't Make These Mistakes: Founder Regrets, PMF, Fundraising, QSBS, Hiring
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler Richards dedicate the entire show to answering pressing questions from their founder community. They kick things off with a fun "Startup Generational Side-by-Side" game comparing business tools from the 80s/90s to today, before...
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Dustin Robins: Following Lean Startup all the way to $30M, Don’t Skip Steps, Scalability
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we sit down with Dustin Robins, the CEO of Corporate Traditions, a company that has scaled to tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue. Dustin shares his incredible journey from being unexpectedly laid off from Adobe to starting a…
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Startup Elephants vs Unicorns: Why We Invest in Elephants, Valuations, VC, Fundraising, Strategy
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler Richards dive deep into the venture ecosystem, contrasting two prominent startup philosophies: the "Unicorn" versus the "Elephant." They argue that the post-ZIRP (Zero Interest Rate Period) era calls for a shift away from the...
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Garrett Gee: The Secret $54M Snapchat Sale, Bucket List Family, Shark Tank, Raising VC
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we're joined by the legendary Garrett Gee for a surprise interview! Garrett, the co-founder of Scan and father of The Bucket List Family, shares his incredible journey from being a college student who didn't know what "entrepreneur" meant to…
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Adam Edmunds: $4B Entrata CEO on Podium's Growth, Allegiance Sale to MaritzCX, SaaS & GTM Metrics
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we're joined by Adam Edmunds, the CEO of the $4B real estate tech powerhouse, Entrata. Adam shares his incredible journey from a student entrepreneur who didn't know what a cap table was to a seasoned operator leading multi-billion dollar…
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Phil Kirkeiner: $150k to $7M with an Offshore Sales Team | Startup Scaling, SaaS, Remote Teams, CEO
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, John and Tyler Richards are joined by Phil Kirkeiner, the CEO of Baton ( https://www.batonleads.com/ ), a rapidly growing referral platform for the home services industry. Phil, a former student of John's, shares his incredible journey from being a...
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Scott Johnson: Bootstrapping to a $1.5B Adobe Acquisition, Workfront, Motivosity, Product-Market Fit
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler Richards sit down with Scott Johnson, the visionary founder behind Workfront (acquired by Adobe for $1.5 billion) and his current venture, Motivosity. Scott shares his incredible entrepreneurial journey, from bootstrapping...
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Andrew Smith: From Tech to Restaurants, Problem Hunter Building a Food Empire, Scaling & Investing
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler sit down with Andrew Smith, the managing partner of Savory Fund and a serial entrepreneur defined as a true "problem hunter." Andrew shares his incredible journey, starting in the tech world during the dot-com boom with a...
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"This Is a DEAL KILLER": VC's Pre-Seed Due Diligence Checklist, Cap Table, Rule 83B, Founder Equity
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler Richards dive deep into the world of pre-seed due diligence. They outline the critical checklist they use as venture capitalists to evaluate early-stage companies, providing invaluable insights for founders preparing to...
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Travis Cook: The AI Software Revolution, Building a Top Dev Shop, Blockchain, Startup Investing
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler are joined by seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and mentor Travis Cook. They dive into Travis's journey, starting with his early days as a Java developer in 1996, co-founding Solution Stream, a pioneering custom software...
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Craig Earnshaw: Destructive Founder Splits & Pitching Investors Confidently, Angel Investing, Exits
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts Tyler and John Richards sit down with Utah startup legend, Craig Earnshaw. Craig shares his incredible entrepreneurial journey, from his early days as a programmer to founding, selling, rebuying, and re-selling his software company, LifeLK...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Father and son team John and Tyler Richards — veteran entrepreneurs, venture investors, mentors, and educators — discuss all things entrepreneurship and venture capital.
HOSTED BY
John & Tyler Richards
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Startup Ignition Podcast have?
Startup Ignition Podcast currently has 63 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Startup Ignition Podcast about?
Father and son team John and Tyler Richards — veteran entrepreneurs, venture investors, mentors, and educators — discuss all things entrepreneurship and venture capital.
How often does Startup Ignition Podcast release new episodes?
Startup Ignition Podcast has 63 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Startup Ignition Podcast?
You can listen to Startup Ignition Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Startup Ignition Podcast?
Startup Ignition Podcast is created and hosted by John & Tyler Richards.
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