Before we had money, everything had weight.
Every decision had a cost.
Every release was driven by survival, not optionality.
We built things fast because we had no choice.
That pace made us sharper.
After the raise things started changing slowly.
We started hiring before solving.
We delayed decisions because we had time.
We outsourced things we should’ve learned.
And speed became negotiable.
It looked like we were scaling.
In reality, we were losing grip on what made us dangerous.
I didn’t notice it at first.
We had dashboards, velocity charts, MRR targets.
But something about our culture felt... softer.
Then I read a CB Insights stat:
38% of startups fail because they run out of cash.
And most of them didn’t fail because they didn’t raise enough.
They failed because they raised and lost the edge that got them there.
I looked at what we were doing and realized:
We were overhiring without clarity
We were spending like time would always be on our side
We were drifting into comfort, not building with intent
So,
We stopped hiring for speed.
We went back to solving problems first — then asking if we needed a hire.
We started working like the money wasn't there.
The entire experience made me learn that scrappiness is not something you outgrow.
It’s something you forget if you're not careful.
If you’ve just raised — great.
But don’t change how you operate.
The goal was never to raise money.
The goal was to stay hungry enough to build what you said you would.
And that part doesn’t change.
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