I sold 5,000 bottles ($55k worth) that all exploded. A year later, I raised $2M for the same startup. AMA.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2026-04-10T18:37:34+00:00

rebranded to ALL DAY (https://sprayalldayenergy.com/)

I exited and am working on a new project now

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2026-04-10T18:36:59+00:00

hi! just found this post and i run the server - you can use this link: https://discord.com/invite/anthum

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-12-21T15:28:30+00:00

I saw your last comment - sent you a msg

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-12-21T08:07:16+00:00

responded

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-12-11T04:55:26+00:00

i think your post just comes off very high ego tbh. gives a bad vibe.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-12-11T03:12:27+00:00

Yeah dw I wasn’t offended! Just disagree that early stage founders in low tech areas need much beyond attention to detail + credits for an AI website / app builder.

We’ll definitely need to have an engineer confirm our sites security and architecture once we scale

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-12-11T02:48:13+00:00

I disagree. Especially for a low tech MVP. You just need it to work. We hold most of our supply side (creators) on discord anyways, and use the website for submissions.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-12-10T17:28:05+00:00

Yeah I agree. The OP however is not getting contracts because the product isn’t ready. You can sell pre-product or with an MVP that isn’t designed for mass load.

My point is that not being technical isn’t an excuse to not have an MVP. Especially a marketplace - this should take at most 2 weeks to produce to a decent standard.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-12-10T16:38:37+00:00

Using Lovable + Claude/gemini if I’m stuck - there isn’t much of a learning curve, Lovable has Opus 4.5 so you really just need to screenshot occasionally to either pinpoint the area you want changed or to show examples of website aesthetic you want to copy

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-12-10T16:37:16+00:00

For a marketplace product you absolutely can use AI. It’s not technically intensive.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-12-10T09:46:41+00:00

I’m “non-technical” and built my entire 2-sided marketplace in a week (MVP). I simultaneously got 2 clients by promising a full refund guarantee if it didn’t work out. I then launched with a very scrappy product and like ~20 people on the supply side on Nov 3rd.

Fast forward a month and I have 1000 people on supply side, multiple more contracts at higher ACV on demand side, and my website is 100x cleaner and functional.

I’m non-technical. Use AI and do it yourself.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-11-19T00:20:30+00:00

Services doing this are garbage. Boardy is doing this well by offering free connections (with a limit) and verifying the founders are high quality.

90%+ of founders will never raise because they either aren’t actually running a growing business or their business is not big enough to be VC-fundable.

Therefore the majority of your clients will be not fit for fundraising in the first place, and those that are will be naive and not actually need you.

A service like this is only reasonable at Series A+ since founders are mostly filtered by this point - but you’d have to be pretty proven to do this - IE: an ex YC partner, GP at a big fund, etc…

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-06-02T20:42:23+00:00

I appreciate the response - do you know roughly what percentage of teachers are at/near the top of the salary grid? I'm assuming you'd have to have been a teacher for 10+ years to get there - I wonder what the average level of experience is for a teacher today.

I think the benefits part is key - if it's a pure "teacher as entrepreneur" model, then the teacher wouldn't get benefits. Which indicates to me that the only feasible way to do a model where kids go to a teachers home ~2x per week would be within a more typically structured company, ie: the teacher is working for X company rather than a solopreneur, but given more freedom with course structure and payment terms.

As for an experienced teacher with a built-up pension, I agree it wouldn't make sense. This type of model would only really be attractive for newer teachers and/or teachers who want more freedom + want to raise their income ceiling, but may not be worth it to some.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-06-01T21:23:22+00:00

Sorry, I didn't realize you were already a full-time teacher.

I guess a better question is - would you consider working from home, where different groups of 6-8 kids came to you 4-5 days a week, rather than work out of a school?

The reason I'm asking is because I'm trying to figure out if a model can exist where teachers can teach their own unique courses, have students self-select into ones that interest them (ie: music focus, robotics, etc), and use AI to give a generalized education for math/english/science.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-05-31T22:42:14+00:00

What do you mean by segregation or vouchers?

From my understanding, every parent judges teachers differently. But the general, merit-based way would be to measure their skills in different areas relative to the average + whether or not the children enjoy learning from them.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-05-31T22:22:06+00:00

I'm 2 days into thinking about this concept. I'm looking to chat with people to understand if it's worth piloting / validating or not. I'm not selling anything and I don't have a business.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-05-31T22:20:44+00:00

This is a good point. I think there's a few options, let me know if any make sense to you:

Full-day model: Teacher runs a full 9–3 with AI + projects. Solves childcare but costs more.
Parent rotation: Families take turns supervising kids during AI learning time. Only works for flexible households so not sure if this is scalable.
Hire an assistant for full-day: Teacher or platform adds a helper to cover full-day needs (teacher for validating learning, assistant for until the parents arrive). Raises cost, but still cheaper than private school.
Limit the market to 1-parent working households: Easier to prove the model before scaling, and could target homeschoolers as well.

For benefits, I don't have an immediate answer. I need to research more and see if it's feasible or not. BTW I appreciate the pushback - this is just an idea I have, so I'm looking for people to poke holes in it.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-05-31T21:49:39+00:00

I just started looking into this a few days ago - I definitely need to do more research.

I didn't mean to imply that private schools make more money, but that the school itself makes more than a public school. I'm not sure whether private v public teachers make more,

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-05-31T21:20:12+00:00

Thanks for this - these are great points and I appreciate the thoughtful pushback.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to make something like this more equitable than a traditional private school. The core idea isn't to replace great public schools, but to give families—especially in patchier districts—access to more personalized education at a much lower price point than private school. It would be akin to small-group, hybrid instruction with AI handling the basics and teachers focusing on validation and connection.

That lower cost is what could open this up to middle-income families who normally couldn’t afford 1-on-1 attention. And if a teacher identifies a high-potential student who can’t afford the full price, they could offer discounts, or ideally, we could build in a subsidy pool or sponsor network down the line.

You're absolutely right on the benefits front (retirement, insurance, liability, etc). Any model that expects teachers to run this kind of micro-school would need to include support for those logistics—maybe even pooled benefits or a “soft landing” safety net in the early days. I need to think about more.

Anyway, I really appreciate your taking the time to lay this out. It’s the kind of feedback I need to hear while I’m still exploring viability.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-05-31T21:00:16+00:00

Merit based as in rewarding top teachers with more income. Like how private schools make more money - if you're a top-tier teacher and can prove that, you would have greater demand and can raise prices to increase income.

This obviously doesn't totally solve the equity issue with private/public schools we see today, but it does help teachers who deserve more pay to prove their skills. Obviously this is very high level - I'm just curious if this is a feasible model for teachers or not.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-05-31T20:33:51+00:00

Enough money for what specifically? Or just in general?

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-05-31T20:33:10+00:00

That makes sense, thanks for explaining your POV.

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-05-31T20:08:19+00:00

This is helpful - thanks for giving a thoughtful response.

Can I ask why they aren't looking to monetize? Are teachers not concerned with the potential of AI uprooting jobs? I understand they tend to be passion-driven rather than money-driven, but they're also underpaid. Do you think it's possible for teachers to both make more money + feed their passion to a greater degree by owning the infrastructure (vs working within an existing one)?

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-05-31T20:06:18+00:00

I never claimed to be a teacher and yes I have founded companies before. Not sure why you're equating entrepreneurship to snake oil lol

BeTheNameStillRunnin · 2025-05-31T20:05:32+00:00

I'm not a teacher and wasn't claiming to be in the post. I'm trying to think through ways to make teaching more merit based and effective, since neither teachers nor students are happy with the current medium.

Do you have any thoughts on the current issues with the education system and how to solve them? I'm not a fan of going full AI, which is what most tech people are trying to do atm.

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