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.

After launching our first product, we received positive feedback from investors, but I was unaware that we were about to face a long period of struggle.

When we raised venture capital in 2003, it was one of the only deals that the firm had done at that time, highlighting the challenges of building hardware.

We learned that finding investors who specialize in hardware was crucial, as they understood our vision and supported us.

We didn't even attempt to talk to investors because we had no product or clear idea of what our product should be.

Michael Dell, our lead investor, expressed skepticism about the profitability of Linux companies, stating he just wanted to support Linux, which was disheartening for us as entrepreneurs.

After facing significant setbacks, we took back control from our investors and focused on learning from our mistakes to develop a better product.

We faced challenges with our product's pre-order sales drying up and struggled to maintain press coverage as our product wasn't ready for manufacturing yet.

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.