Post by John Gleeson

Shortly after starting Success Venture Partners, I got a cold LinkedIn DM from a Northwestern student. At the time, my inbox was flooded and I was still very much on the learning curve of starting a fund. I almost didn’t take the meeting, but it's a good thing I did. From the first conversation, it was obvious this wasn’t a typical student reach-out. The level of engagement was off the charts. The pace of learning. The quality of the questions. The thoughtfulness behind how he processed ideas and pushed on assumptions. It was rare. I’ve hired hundreds of people over the course of my career, and every so often you meet someone where you just know — this person is special. That student was Owen Botkin and he became the very first intern at SuccessVP! Seeing Owen turn that same intensity and clarity toward building a company has been incredibly rewarding. His growth from curious student to founder feels entirely consistent with who he was from day one. That journey now continues as Forum becomes part of Y Combinator. Huge congratulations, Owen — this is very much just the beginning.