I ve spent years watching teams burn budget on beautiful ads aimed at garbage lists.

Same pattern every time:

• Export a target list from CRM or event platform

• Throw it into a spreadsheet

• Hack together filters, VLOOKUPs, and manual enrichment

• Pray the upload to LinkedIn/Meta/Google actually matches

A lot of us think pivoting means tearing everything down and starting over or taking a hard left turn and never looking back

For us, we ve learned that a pivot was actually just a shift toward what we were actually building the whole time.

There s a clich in tech that every startup wants to change the world.

Aaron and I started Scribe with a different ambition: change how the world actually works.

Many brands have their long-standing mascots (McDonald's, Mr Clean, Michelin), etc. But with the development of AI, physical forms are moving online, and AI avatars look promising in this.

On one hand, it feels less human (authentic), on the other hand, AI influencers are a "cheaper" solution.

I have come across several statements such as: a single person cannot raise money on their own (you need to be in a team of at least 2 people), it is not worth it because there is pressure on you, etc.

• What is your experience with raising money?

• What did it give you, and who did you raise it from?

• What do you think helped you to a large extent to get the raise?

Given all the AI tools out there today, what is one challenge with data that still remains unsolved? why do you think it hasn't/can't be solved easily.

I wrote a list of all the things I learnt by becoming a first-time founder and leaving a role in big tech. It s more than I had when I started, so I hope it finds you at the right time:

Here we go:

• Getting going: Make sure you have a clear reason and those in your life are on same page. It is consuming!

• Unfair advantage: Founders aren t special, they just optimize to what makes them different (becomes important when raising too). It can be as simple as "worked in big company, saw firsthand the XXX problem"

• Getting started isn t easy: Make sure you consider the financial impact if leaving a job to get going Consider 12-18 months of no revenue or funding and if you can manage that

• Full-time or nothing: You can t do both a job and a startup. Investors won t back part-time conviction

• The pitch doc: Forces clarity, the problem, the customer, the market, and why you should solve it

• Raising money: Start with belief and momentum. An idea, a plan, and an MVP are enough to find your first backers

• Accelerators: Early programs like YC or Techstars can help refine your product and give you fuel to move faster. I have a longer list of Accelerators in case anyone needs it...?

• Foundations: Lock down your domain, name, trademarks, and structure early - future you will thank you

• Advisors: Find people who open doors and offer perspective, not control, ideally top % in their domain

• SaaS reality: You ll spend more on tools than you expect, it s part of building

• Building: Nothing s real until users touch it. Ship early, get feedback, iterate. It was extremely painful to hear users complain about our early bugs, but without that, we wouldn't be more reliable now...

• Co-founder: Pick someone with complementary skills and shared energy. You ll need each other

• Runway: Track every cost. I have a spreadsheet with every single one, also helps with tax reporting. Burn awareness is survival

• Energy: In a startup, you are the momentum. Working Saturday isn t working Saturday , it s pushing your dream forward

• Loved ones: Communicate early. The work will consume you; don t let it quietly consume them too

• Attention: Building is one thing. Getting noticed is harder. You ll code-switch between product, marketing, finance, and sanity

• What if you fail: Most startups do. But you ll come out sharper, braver, and more ready than ever

Everyone says execution matters most.

But I think it s execution in the right way
The kind that runs experiments, not marathons.

It s easy to move fast.

It s harder to design motion that actually teaches you something.

Are you the kind of person who believes in your dream enough to burn through most of your savings on it?

For millionaires, this might not be a big deal, but what about people with a typical 9 5 job? I see how much a solid marketing campaign costs on just one platform (often the monthly expense is equal to at least a full year s salary).

The day before yesterday, a friend told me he and his wife are closing their restaurant, which they opened just six months ago. They had taken a loan for it, which makes it even worse.