When we were smaller, we recognized that most of our potential customers were not yet using monday.com, which helped us focus on future growth rather than just current success.

At Linear, we focus on building tools specifically for product software companies, especially early-stage startups, to ensure we meet their unique needs.

We focused on one approach rather than spreading our resources too thin, which is a key takeaway for startups.

Initially, we thought we were on the path to success, but I later realized that we were not converting users into paying customers because we were too focused on fundraising and PR instead of creating a product that people actually needed.

In the early days, we focused on hiring the best talent to fill gaps in our skills, which helped us grow from three to over 300 employees in just a few years.

We started with a freemium model, but realized it distracted us; we shifted to a paid model and consistently increased prices over time, which helped us focus on serious customers.

Microsoft acquired both our product and contracting companies in 2014, which was unexpected but beneficial due to the demand for skilled developers at that time.

Before joining Y Combinator, we initially focused on helping students prepare for interviews through mock interviews, which highlighted the disconnect between resumes and actual skills.

Our mission at HackerRank is to match every developer to the right job, focusing on skills rather than resumes, which often poorly correlate to actual abilities.