One of the biggest mistakes we made at Oculus was moving too quickly on a shoestring budget, which put pressure on us to make progress before running out of money. Ironically, we also had effectively unlimited resources, but that actually slowed us down, halting our iteration speed on VR headsets for about three years.

We aimed to minimize technical risks by testing with a minimum viable product (MVP) before investing heavily in development. This approach helps determine if there's a product-market fit without wasting resources.

We learned that building too much technology too quickly can be a mistake; it's essential to focus on what's most needed and to iterate based on user feedback.

In the early stages of a startup, the goal is to move quickly to validate that I'm building something people want, as this allows for faster pivots and scaling once product-market fit is achieved.

During the first two years at Oculus, we experienced rapid changes and learning, managing to get our first development kit into customers' hands in just six months, which is not typical for hardware development.

Brex pivoted from a VR headset idea to understanding the needs of other founders, which led them to develop a product that addressed real customer pain points.

We encourage rapid production to gather real user feedback, which is essential for improving our products and understanding customer needs.

The initial traction we received was surprising, leading us to iterate quickly based on user feedback and adapt our product accordingly.

Many people jump on trends too early; for example, VR has potential, but it's not yet a high conviction bet for starting a company.