DiveThru founder details 'painful decisions' to raise $800K in pre-seed funding
Summary
"It took me eight months to close this round, hours of cold emailing and asking for introductions, so many nos I lost count, and many painful decisions to ensure we kept the lights on," Gray wrote. "I cried in my shower a number of times, lost hours of sleep, and would lay on the floor in my office completely unsure of what to do next. "Some of the difficult decisions included freezing spending and laying off team members because it wasnt possible to renew the grants that were used to pay for those positions. Even with the cuts, the company still has 20 full-time employees.Gray said DiveThru plans to use the funds to develop product-market fit, as it builds on its mental wellness offerings including podcasts, articles, newsletters, and online programs. As part of that strategy, the company just launched a subscription service and will be aiming to show investors that users are coming back to the products, finding them valuable, and will opt to pay for premium resources.