Founders

I once lived in a WeWork to build a startup.

We were building tools for Airbnb hosts, so we became hosts ourselves. We had just set up 28 apartments in Philly and we were tight on cash.

The first night we were 100% booked, we didn't have a place to stay...so we slept at the office.

Then we realized, we could just live there to save money.
We brought in a mattress. Taped up the motion sensors.

We’d work all day building the product, then crash on a mattress in our "office". 

We even papered up the glass walls so people wouldn't see us.

We lived out of suitcases. Showered at nearby gyms. 

And for what?

We had no salary. No safety net.
Just a deep belief that we were building something that mattered.

It wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t even legal.
But it was necessary to get us off the ground.

I’m not saying you have to live in a WeWork to build a startup. But...

1/2

this is one of the wildest things i did in my early founder journey

🕯️They/them. Scaled cos from 0-$300k in arr, 7-35 employees, 0-100k users. Now I make candles that give people love, joy, and delight at humankind.place

wow, that's one of the wilder ones i've heard! had you just moved to a new city?

I respect it! 

Had these moments too - had to share a 1 bedroom apartment with 3 other people lol.

Exciting journey! Early founder moments are always wild. What was the most memorable part?