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 raised 1.6 million and obsessively built the company for three years, achieving 8.4X growth in one year, which led to a position where I didn't need the money when I went to raise again.

After Y Combinator, we struggled financially for about a year, living off savings and working out of a friend's living room, which was made possible by the generosity of his parents.

During our first year, we operated virtually and squatted at MIT while trying to generate enough funds to pay ourselves a stipend.

During the early days, we faced challenges in raising funds, leading to personal sacrifices from the team, including Tony selling his apartments to keep the company afloat.

Despite initial struggles, we showed some growth, prompting an investor to suggest we raise a Series A round, which I eagerly prepared for.

We raised money for the first time after five years of existence, once we had a clear picture of our market and customer traction.

I leveraged personal connections to get introductions to investors, which was crucial in raising my first million before Y Combinator.

We did not expect the first batch of startups to make money; it was an experiment for us to learn how to be investors, which shaped our approach to supporting founders.