I faced significant challenges raising $3.8 million to buy Starbucks, including competition from investors who wanted to take over the company without due diligence.

I pitched 75 investors for funding, but we faced rejection after rejection, which made me cynical about fundraising, especially during a time when no one was investing in consumer-driven businesses.

I faced rejection from investors at least 50 times while fundraising, and it was tough to determine if my challenges were due to being a brown woman without a higher degree or simply lacking progress.

Rejection is a common experience in startups; even famous companies faced significant rejection early on.

We raised our Series A after initially facing many rejections, but ultimately secured $3-4 million from various investors.

In 2008, I returned to Starbucks amidst a financial crisis, where the market cap had plummeted from $30 billion to less than $7 billion, and we faced negative sales growth for the first time in our history.

It's common for founders to hear the same reasons for rejection from multiple investors, which can indicate a broader issue that needs to be addressed rather than a specific flaw.

Despite early growth, we faced challenges in fundraising, pitching to 150 investors, with most rejecting us due to the perceived unsexiness of our content-focused approach.

I didn't sell my story well to investors, which led to challenges in raising funds, but eventually, we built a strong case that made it hard for them to ignore us.