I think a lot about the money we’ve raised ($1.4MM in two rounds) and what it’s done for us.  

Yep, some of it went to a nicer coffee maker, and some of it paid for us to move out of our “office” in Brendan’s bedroom, but most importantly, it gave us time.

It gave us time to eat and sleep without having to worry about failing to pay rent. It gave us more time to try advertising that was stupid and expensive, but that gave us data. It let us add Ben and Adam to the team, who helped the company do more in less time.

The slow fire burns the hottest

There are simply no shortcuts to a really strong foundation. I can’t think of many brands that raised capital, skyrocketed their growth, and then stayed on top. The strongest brands and products I can think of were built over decades, not years.

We all hear about the super fast-growing apps that raise a ton of money and throw around growth numbers like hundreds of millions of users in a matter of months.  Trouble is, the product isn’t always ready for that, or the team hasn’t identified what they love about that space, and maybe they don’t even know how they want to work yet. In the end, it just doesn’t work (the product normally fades into ‘fad’ territory).

What do you really need?

Looking back, I think we probably could have waited longer before raising money. But we have no regrets. Fortunately for us, our investors let us take our time to find our way. Many investors expect you to go much faster than your company may be ready to go, and their expectations may actually decrease the amount of time you have to figure things out. Think about what you really need right now. Do you need money? Do you need time? Do you need both?