I then partnered with a friend to build products for the iPhone, inspired by the potential of the new technology.

We built our first working prototype with the help of friends and funding from pitch competitions, along with some support from my parents.

When my co-founder George called me with an innovative idea, I was blown away by the demo he showed me, which led us to explore starting a business together.

Despite having a promising product, we struggled to secure investment, leading us to consider launching on Kickstarter, which was suggested by Paul Graham. We built our Kickstarter page and filmed the video ourselves, starring our friends and interns.

I met my co-founder Joe Gebbia at RISD, and together we decided to start a company without a clear idea of what it would be.

The key to transforming an initial spark of an idea into a successful startup is to work together to build and launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

After college, I worked at a biotech firm but felt the slow career progression pushed me to pursue entrepreneurship, especially after a roommate suggested we start a company together.

We initially started a company based on a bad idea, trying to create a wiki for stock research, but it never took off, which is common in consumer businesses where success can feel random.

We launched our product to friends and family to test our processes and pricing, which helped us refine our approach and led to referrals.