In the past month, Build graduates (that I know of) have raised >$1.8M and received >$300K in grants. 

Especially motivating for me is that in nearly all of those cases it's the first money the project has gotten.

Founder @withBackdrop, enabling more digital painters, gardeners, and explorers

That's why I do think "time to first money" is an important metric for builder programs at the earliest stages. 

We want to be very intentional about not just creating another popularity contest, but we're exploring some experiments in this direction soon 👀

There's a big difference between venture money, a $5k grant, or a $5 tip ... except for one key thing — it's all getting paid for something you built.

There are few moments better at raising a builder's ambition than the moment they "go pro."