🚀 @Harvard dropout raised $47M for @dubinvest ?!.Headlines are nice, but it's the people behind the scenes that make the real difference 🙌.Shoutout to @JordanNof & Bill Capuzzi for helping @swangentr .

Investing in @MasterClass pre-launch 🚀? .@alex_gurevich , Managing Director at @JavelinVP, shares the story of how @drogier , Founder of @MasterClass convinced him to invest!. Spotify:

Is moving to 🌁 San Francisco worth it? .@GilFeig , Co-Founder of @Merge, announced that he's moving back after living in NYC, & Tom Charman, Founder of @blokintel, shared his perspective after moving from London less than a year ago 💪. Full episode:

What's it like to pitch a $5B VC in 🌁 Silicon Valley? (aka my garage in SF 😂). VC --> @Lux_Capital Partner, Shaq Vayda.FOUNDER --> @pinkmilky (ex Google & Apple Engineer). Spotify:

"How do you know when you've hit product-market-fit?".~ New Founder. Listen to how @danbladen , CEO of @KadenceOS shared when he knew they hit it!.

3x denied before getting accepted 4x.Thank you @sarthaksg, for sharing your incredible story of persistence getting into @ycombinator on podcast. “They didn't prepare” 😲 — .It’s NOT About Laziness 😂. It’s About Authenticity.

🟧YC S24 @Joseph Johnson, CEO of @tryLedgerUp, shared when he had to fire customers as a result of a pivot. 😲. Check out the full interview:

Co-Founder & CTO of @lendflowio just shared his top learnings getting into YC learning nailing PMF -->

Thank you, @bryanpmurphy, now CEO of @smartling , for sharing your product market-fit journey building your first company, WHI Solution (sold to @eBay). #TheFounderInitiative podcast.

👉 The founder’s gravitational pull is a leading indicator of success.🤔. Thank you @markterbeek , Partner at @greycroftvc .

Thank you Ajay Prakash, Co-Founder & CEO of @Rinse for sharing your funding journey on The Founder Initiative!.

Most important factor for getting into @ycombinator ? .@useoffstream's Founder @varsha_ramesh share how they got in!.--> 🔑 get your idea off the page, into customer hands, iterate, & repeat.

How Offstream got into @ycombinator with no product. a deck & a few paying customers 👇. 1. Sell before you build.First customer with screenshots & a deck. 2. Duct tape > polish.YC loves “duct tape engineering" .3. Simplicity sells. They pitched as “Vanta for carbon compliance”

Well done Hoa Mai, Founder of @featherrobotics on the boldness during your pitch to @ericbahn , GP at @HustleFundVC !.

Applying FOMO (**honestly**) during your funding raising process. Vijay Rajendran, ex 500 Global, shared his process to get funded faster. on The Founder Initiative (formerly podcast! .

Behind the scenes 👉 @FoundationFund ($6B AUM) <> @CofactoryAI pitch in Silicon Valley!. Here's a clip from the new, from the full pitch discussion with Sid Trivedi, Partner at Foundation Capital & Joey C S, Founder of Cofactory.

The moment when you're about to shutdown the company. Founder, Mark Doble flipped the narrative with a word 🙌💥. Thank you for sharing your product-market fit journey on @Zendesk's founder podcast! .

($574M raised 🤯) .Nailing (authentic) conviction in your vision. Thank you, @DanielSaks, Co-Founder of @AppDirect @LandbaseAI for sharing your story!. Check out the full episode on the @Zendesk Sit Down Startup podcast (see comments for links).

($169M raised) --> Hitting Product market fit is one thing, but let's talk about sustaining it. Thank you, Randy Wootton, Founder of Maxio, for sharing your story!. Check out the full episode on the @Zendesk Sit Down Startup podcast:

$239M raised 💥.That moment when you realize you need to pivot. Thank you Angie Westbrock, CEO of @StandardAI for sharing your product-market fit journey on Zendesk's founder podcast!. @Zendesk for Startups