The ZIRP environment created a false sense of security for many founders, who believed that simply having access to capital would ensure their success, ignoring the need for sustainable business models.

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.

I faced a moment of panic when I learned that a glitch in our ordering process would lead to a loss, jeopardizing our bank covenants shortly after moving to Las Vegas. We had to find $10 million to reduce our debt and ensure we could make all payments without missing payroll.

Not having a lot of money forced us to innovate and focus on making every dollar count, which ultimately helped us grow faster than competitors who had more funding.

We realized that to grow our business, we needed to raise capital, as we had no money in the bank after three years of operation, and we didn't want to remain a lifestyle business.

When we were low on funds, I wholesaled to a key account to generate cash flow, which ultimately saved the company from going under.

Starbucks had a 6:1 debt-to-equity ratio, which limited our ability to innovate due to high debt service payments.

We run super light on capital at Y Combinator, which has its advantages, but applying more capital could have made things smoother.

The mistake we made at Zenefits was focusing on grabbing market share early without automating our processes, which we did differently at Rippling by building everything in software from the start.