In the early days, we struggled to raise money, which taught us to focus on solving real problems and to build an efficient, profitable business from day one.

I had to earn every single user and every single dollar that came in, which taught us to be extremely efficient and scrappy with our incubation capital.

We focused on one approach rather than spreading our resources too thin, which is a key takeaway for startups.

Despite the challenges, we learned to allocate capital better and operate more efficiently, which allowed us to grow significantly even in tough times.

I had to make tough decisions during a crisis, including shrinking the team and raising funds, which ultimately extended our runway and allowed us to launch successfully despite market challenges.

I had no choice but to bootstrap my company for the first year. I focused on optimizing for a fast and efficient fundraising process because I was warned that a long fundraising process could kill a company.

Understanding that we were reinventing the funding industry allowed us to prioritize customer happiness as a key driver of our business.

When we realized our competitors were shipping faster, we shifted our approach to product development, setting ambitious goals like building 25 new features in one month to drive innovation and focus.

I think the early challenges in fundraising were beneficial because they instilled a culture of discipline and efficiency that has contributed to our long-term success.