Andrew Lacy

You know, you're at the Starbucks and the billion dollar idea comes from the napkin drawing that you made. I just don't think that's how entrepreneurship really works or should work. And it's so hard to build companies. Why do we expect also that the entrepreneur is going to come up with the idea? And so the big unlock for me was like saying, you know what? I'm not going to do that anymore.

You know, you're at the Starbucks and the billion dollar idea comes from the napkin drawing that you made. I just don't think that's how entrepreneurship really works or should work. And it's so hard to build companies. Why do we expect also that the entrepreneur is going to come up with the idea? And so the big unlock for me was like saying, you know what? I'm not going to do that anymore.

I'll keep going to Starbucks, but I want someone across the other side of that table talking about something I don't know and see if I can get excited about a problem that's keeping other people up at night.

I'll keep going to Starbucks, but I want someone across the other side of that table talking about something I don't know and see if I can get excited about a problem that's keeping other people up at night.

Prunuvo was one of the more interesting fundraising stories because we struggled to raise money and still do, in my opinion, to raise money as a company. And the main reason for this is, I think, and I wear this a bit as a badge of pride now, is kind of like the more crazy the idea is that you're pursuing, the more people just reject it outright.

Prunuvo was one of the more interesting fundraising stories because we struggled to raise money and still do, in my opinion, to raise money as a company. And the main reason for this is, I think, and I wear this a bit as a badge of pride now, is kind of like the more crazy the idea is that you're pursuing, the more people just reject it outright.

And I think investors have a really hard time telling the difference between, I mean, you can easily tell a good idea from a bad idea, but it's really hard to tell like an incredible idea from the worst thing you've ever heard. So the tales of that distribution, it's hard to tell one from the other. I remember I saw Uber's first angel pitch. I saw WhatsApp's first angel pitch.

And I think investors have a really hard time telling the difference between, I mean, you can easily tell a good idea from a bad idea, but it's really hard to tell like an incredible idea from the worst thing you've ever heard. So the tales of that distribution, it's hard to tell one from the other. I remember I saw Uber's first angel pitch. I saw WhatsApp's first angel pitch.

And I'm like, this is stupid in both cases. So it's just very hard to do. We talked to a lot of investors and we got a lot of no's. In fact, when we had that first clinic in Canada, which is where we started... We had patients coming in. They were super excited. They were jazzed. The business was actually profitable back then at a really early stage.

And I'm like, this is stupid in both cases. So it's just very hard to do. We talked to a lot of investors and we got a lot of no's. In fact, when we had that first clinic in Canada, which is where we started... We had patients coming in. They were super excited. They were jazzed. The business was actually profitable back then at a really early stage.

And I went to investors and every investor had a doctor or every VC had a doctor on their investment committee. And all those doctors were like, this is stupid. You shouldn't invest in it. And so we ended up bootstrapping the company. We got bank loans and bank guarantees. And we ended up begging and borrowing our way to opening up a location in Silicon Valley.

And I went to investors and every investor had a doctor or every VC had a doctor on their investment committee. And all those doctors were like, this is stupid. You shouldn't invest in it. And so we ended up bootstrapping the company. We got bank loans and bank guarantees. And we ended up begging and borrowing our way to opening up a location in Silicon Valley.

So it looks kind of easy now, but in the early days, it absolutely was not. And even as we raised our Series A around a couple of years ago, 95% of the people we spoke to was a no. And it's funny because we are, I think, probably one of the more unique companies in the Silicon Valley in that we count as...

So it looks kind of easy now, but in the early days, it absolutely was not. And even as we raised our Series A around a couple of years ago, 95% of the people we spoke to was a no. And it's funny because we are, I think, probably one of the more unique companies in the Silicon Valley in that we count as...

patients of ours, a large number of VCs who swear that they'll use us every year for the rest of their lives, but will not invest in us. It was a real journey finding the right investors that really believed and understood the vision. And we've been really fortunate to have great folks that have supported the company, but definitely it was not easy.

patients of ours, a large number of VCs who swear that they'll use us every year for the rest of their lives, but will not invest in us. It was a real journey finding the right investors that really believed and understood the vision. And we've been really fortunate to have great folks that have supported the company, but definitely it was not easy.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, exactly.

For me personally, the emotional damage of fundraising is the worst of all in the startup journey. I can deal with the ups and downs of product market fit and all of the HR issues that come with hiring folks. But when you go to investor, you're bringing that baby that you've created and nurtured and you're putting on a scale and you're weighing it. And when 95%

For me personally, the emotional damage of fundraising is the worst of all in the startup journey. I can deal with the ups and downs of product market fit and all of the HR issues that come with hiring folks. But when you go to investor, you're bringing that baby that you've created and nurtured and you're putting on a scale and you're weighing it. And when 95%