We learned that focusing on the market size and economic benefits of our business was more compelling to investors than just the excitement of our product.

We realized that investors prefer big market potential, so we adjusted our projections to be more realistic, but it still didn't resonate with them.

We help VCs gain visibility into not just the company they're evaluating, but also its competitors, providing insights into market share and customer performance. Our core product empowers users to answer any questions they have about U.S. consumer spending without us selling research directly.

Be cautious about your initial market size estimates; transformational technologies often reveal unforeseen use cases that can significantly expand the market once a superior product is built.

In hindsight, we didn't track revenue effectively; we focused on usage metrics, which made it unclear how many monthly active users we needed for fundraising.

The brutally honest feedback we received from Y Combinator helped us understand that we weren't at a point where we could credibly claim product market fit.

It's crucial for founders to engage directly with users and the market rather than relying on external opinions to gauge their startup's potential.

Using surveys to gauge product-market fit can be biased; instead, focus on measuring actual user retention.

Thinking like a VC often involves analyzing markets and trends, which can distract founders from focusing on their unique startup vision.