I could never figure out why and how the original x.ai held on so long. But I guess some combo of careful resource allocation, overly patient VCs, and ZIRP.
So, basically, they managed to eventually make money by selling the domain to Elon Musk?
Which is quite a nice metaphor for the whole VC scene:
1. Make a team of dedicated and hard working engineers
2. Get VC on board with lot of money to pay for what is needed (not the engineers, they are founders, they don’t pay themselves)
3. Work hard on a MVP
4. Hire marketing guys to attract users.
5. Spend all VC money on marketing.
6. Try to not bankrupt in the process.
7. Make an exit by selling your domain name to a billionnaire.
8. Make a TED talk about how entrepreneurship is about hard work and product fit.
Which is quite a nice metaphor for the whole VC scene:
1. Make a team of dedicated and hard working engineers 2. Get VC on board with lot of money to pay for what is needed (not the engineers, they are founders, they don’t pay themselves) 3. Work hard on a MVP 4. Hire marketing guys to attract users. 5. Spend all VC money on marketing. 6. Try to not bankrupt in the process. 7. Make an exit by selling your domain name to a billionnaire. 8. Make a TED talk about how entrepreneurship is about hard work and product fit.