Last week, we raised a $3.25m Seed round for the @goingpublic series.

The journey to this moment was brutal, and I want to share some of the low points.

I hope this thread sheds some light on what it's really like to be a founder https://dot.la/going-public-2650283720.html

I launched my first company in 2012.

FilmBreak was a social networking site for filmmakers.

We built a prototype, formed an Advisory board, onboarded users, and went out to pitch VCs.

After months of struggling to raise capital beyond friends & family, we booked a meeting with the biggest VC in LA.

He was a 2x entrepreneur-turned VC with a blog I read religiously. (He still blogs.)

I felt like I was meeting my hero.

He cut me off after the 3rd slide: "It's not happening," he quipped. "You guys aren't the team."

As he walked out, he turned back and laughed: "How did you even get a meeting with me?"

I was completely devastated. I will never idolize an investor again.

We pivoted the business to a marketing agency, CrowdfundX, and started marketing @kickstarter and @Indiegogo campaigns.

While we were generating revenue, it was nominal.

We grinded for 3 years, and I reluctantly kept my day job because I needed the income.

We had a breakthrough when we transitioned to marketing Reg A+ campaigns in 2015.

After the success of the Elio Motors ($17 million raised from 6,300 investors), I left my day job, and went all-in.

We grew the team to 10 and opened an office in LA.

But our business model was shaky.

We would sign high dollar campaigns, but our cash flows weren't consistent.

Everything we did was project-based work.

We were constantly having to source and sell new clients.

I loved the team I had at the time, and felt overly protective of them.

I opened a business line of credit, and maxed out credit cards to make payroll certain months.

We ended up with $250K in debt, most of which I had personally guaranteed.

I couldn't sleep for months. These were the thoughts swirling:

What if we run out of money? Will Wells Fargo put a lien on my house? Will my wife leave me? How could I work so hard and still fail? How did this go so wrong?

I felt completely isolated.

We signed a high-tech robotics company in Silicon Valley.

The campaign, which we ran on @SeedInvest, became one of our most successful ever.

The client, however, thought he should have raised more money, and threatened to sue us.

In fact, in our most successful campaigns, the client was always disappointed ($20 million dollar outcomes).

They always wanted more money.

Delivering success and getting berated by the client was the worst feeling ever.

At one point, I fired my one of my executives.

2 months later, he filed a worker's comp claim, saying he fell out of a chair and injured his back.

We didn't have worker's comp insurance--I had put this executive in charge of getting a policy, but he never did.

As we maxed out our credit facilities, I had no choice but to eliminate most of the team.

Having to let people go who I admired and respected was gut wrenching.

All I could do is apologize and tell them it wasn't their fault.

Through years of sheer will and perseverance, we found a business model that worked, and I was able to pay off the debt.

But the scars are real.

I have tremendous empathy for founders. For the journey is not without pain.