If You’re an Early-Stage Founder Read This
What’s working, what’s not, and what early-stage building actually feels like behind the feed.
Hey everyone,
It’s been a minute since I felt like I had something to say that was worth your attention.
If you’re following our journey at Meet-Ting because you’re building something of your own, this *might* be the most important read yet.
The last few months have been mental.
Before I delve into my psyche, I want to start with a quick status - the good and the meh - so you know where we are at right now.
Then we’ll get into what I’m actually feeling and seeing as an early stage founder: the things you only learn by living through this, not by scrolling.
Remember: Your phone is a dangerous place to view and consume world.
There’s a real disconnect out there with real life and the feed, and it’s hurting a lot of founders. It hit me and I’m glad I saw another side.
If you’re already feeling a bit battered, don’t worry, this piece leans more rom-com than horror (at least by the time the credits roll…).
The Good Stuff
We’re coming up to 1,000 users, which is ~50% MoM growth three months in a row with basically no marketing (painful for someone who built a career in social, I don’t get to do fun stuff much these days).
We expanded to Outlook, Teams, Zoom, and introduced multi-calendar, so Ting now looks across work, life, and side projects to book time for you.
We launched Memories, which makes scheduling feel human. Ting remembers important interactions and preferences. You know that moment when someone remembers a tiny detail from a past conversation, and it makes you feel seen? It’s that, but for your calendar.
We’re now a full team: two founders, two full-time engineers, a part-time AI QA, and our day-one consultant.
We got inbound pilots from a top 10 tech company, a top three ad network, and a top three bank. Wildly (!) early for us. I, unashamedly, asked one of them, “How did you hear about us?”
We started talking to investors and met loads at Web Summit + even more in San Francisco.
We were featured on VC Corner, talking about time, networks, and the advanced AI work we’re now doing with real dataset density.
*As I read that section back during my edits, I allow a sleep deprived smile to cross my face. Small note to self: write the good things down because you forget them quickly during the crazy.
The Meh Stuff
Building an autonomous AI agent that can coordinate with multiple guests (we don’t HITL like others) is still really, really hard. When it works, it feels magical; when it doesn’t, it’s not. Even OpenAI with its infinite resource is struggling with multiplayer AI with its new ChatGPT Group Chat feature, which tells you everything about the complexity of what we’re solving.
More features = more bugs. Expected yes… but brutal when your entire promise is to connect people. It’s the original booking sin.
We were one of the first AI assistants for email scheduling, now there’s lots of similar use cases. It validates the market but gives investors “red ocean” vibes when diligence at first review stage is its most shallow.
The AI agent fatigue is real. My LinkedIn feed was already noisy, but SF billboards made me feel overloaded. I can’t imagine what a VC’s inbox looks like.
Some VCs bucketed us as “AI secretary”. I blame myself for that as the communicator. Show what you do + why you’re different. It’s simple if you don’t stray from that framework.
So, you’re now fully up-to-date on Ting, so let’s get into the lessons that I feel I’ll carry for the rest of my life, not to be dramatic or anything, but these things have moved me and altered the way I’m thinking…
Early Stage Founder Lessons
First thing to understand: you’re the product. VCs aren’t doing you a favour - you’re offering them a chance to invest in something valuable: you and the business you’re building. When you sit down with them, they’re assessing whether you can turn their money into a big return. Keep that energy front of mind. Be respectful and grounded, of course, but never forget: they’re buying you, not vice versa.
Talking to investors is hard at first. You can tell 20 versions of your story - it takes reps (and looking at body language, eyes etc.) to know which one lands. What makes it more fun, all investors are also different, so you’ll never know. I now do two things differently:
I ask at the start what their previous investments have got in common to get some signal for what I should focus on.
I start with an anecdote that has, unanimously now, in every pitch got a smile and flash in their eyes as it clicks what we’re really building.
US vs EU is different. US wants vision + “return the fund.” EU wants GTM, repeatability, CAC/LTV comfort.
There’s fear of an AI bubble. One VC told me they’re waiting for the “breakout winner” before deploying real capital.
I met two founders:
One did 0 → $2M ARR in 3 months and can’t get funded.
One did 0 → $3M ARR in 6 months and had a hyper-competitive round.
Conclusion: fundraising is random.
Rejection is part of the game. At first it can feel crippling. BUT, in the no’s there’s as much value as the yes’s. Hear me out... They will make your strategy and communications much better. I didn’t think of it like that until another founder guided me to really listen hard. Even a comment like “not differentiated” is golden, if you unpack it later.
The emotional side is a lot. You spend so much time understanding your problem that it feels insane when people don’t see it clearly. But remember: investors see thousands of pitches, they don’t sit with your customers daily. Their feedback has patterns based on everything else they see outside of your bubble, which is, in fact, a valuable resource too.
I had a moment where B2B-only felt “easier” because of all the hot inbound. But after a long chat with my co-founder, we doubled down on the bigger vision: B2C + B2B + TBC (keeping that part for the checks). The problem that brought us together and the thing we’re genuinely excited to solve over the long term.
And it’s true: the more VC calls you take, the better you get. We’re now in some really positive conversations. Having runway gives us the luxury of not rushing, which makes all the difference. If you can start fundraising early, do it. I saw online the average pre-seed is 16 weeks. You don’t want to be rushed, and you definitely don’t want to be desperate. Choosing an investor at this stage is basically choosing another co-founder.
SF was inspiring. Builders everywhere. And meeting with Google, Microsoft and OpenAI (separately, of course) opened some exciting doors for Ting.
Myths That Hurt Early Founders
The “run a tight round, create FOMO, make VCs chase you” narrative is everywhere on X. I totally buy into the spend less time fundraising part, but not this artificial system to drive a round forward. Maybe it’s just me and my style (as I’m sure there’s wisdom in it - tell me if you know better), but I’d rather be genuine and win on merit.
Best move we made: Make a list → find warm intros → talk to people who already understand your world.
Some later-stage VCs were incredibly generous with feedback even though we’re too early for them. Find these people. They’re founder-first and rare.
Avoid the “comment to apply” VCs. It’s just top-of-funnel content to train their LLMs or build audience. No shame in that game, just be careful you don’t waste your precious time.
Don’t buy into the 996 grind mentality if it doesn’t work for you. As a founder you will work insane hours (more like 997) - but it doesn’t have to be performative. Work because you need to and love what you’re doing, not because of a perceived culture you need to fit into…
What’s Next
SF gave us focus days as co-founders, deep dives on product, differentiation, and what “delight” means in our world.
The future of Ting feels rich. Here’s a tiny hint:
Ting is a network. The more people in your circle use it, the more you get instant, silent connections and shared memories.
We care about every part of the meeting lifecycle, not just booking. Did you show up? What did you talk about? What needs to happen next? That context makes Ting better over time and makes your next meeting more valuable.
As a salesperson once said to me in a customer call: “I only care about my next meeting.” Same as us.
Next week our team flies into London for a debrief. We’ll digest Web Summit, SF, platform and integration conversations, B2B pilots, and VC feedback and interest.
Despite waking up at 3am every day for the last seven days… I feel, really, awake.
Thanks for reading and drop me a line if anything you’ve read makes you feel a kinda way.
More soon,
Dan
Exciting progress. Onwards!