Breaking even at Justin.tv was a moment of infinite clarity for me, highlighting the importance of operating sustainably rather than on investors' dimes.

To survive in an organic growth business, you need to break even quickly, often by consulting or generating revenue from clients from day one.

When you're funded by investors, there's a tendency to optimize for what they want to hear instead of focusing on the actual business needs. Investors are your customers because they provide the money you need to survive, making your users secondary until you reach break-even.

If you're seeking millions of dollars to reach break-even, venture capital is one of the few mechanisms available to secure that funding in today's economy.

If you build a better product for users, you also end up with a better profit and loss statement and better economics; if users love the platform, your customer acquisition cost is lower and throughput is higher.

After graduating, I focused entirely on my startup but struggled to achieve profitability, which taught me the importance of having paying customers.

If you don't deserve money right now, consider alternative paths like cutting burn and striving for break-even, which can create leverage for future funding.

Understanding your users and their needs is crucial, especially when facing rejection from investors.

As a founder, you should earn the right to spend money by first testing low-cost or no-cost solutions before scaling up expenditures.