Could have been leaner

The concept of 'lean' is learned better through experience than through books. While Eric Ries did a commendable job of putting the concept into 300 pages, there is no teacher better than the real world.

I've sunk a lot of money into Morph. We'll keep it general, but many thousands of dollars have been my own, and no meager amount has come from my faithful family. I've invested financially, committed professionally, and pained emotionally over this company. It's been so fun and worth it all, especially as I learned one major lesson: I could have been leaner.

Our technology works, but is currently sitting and gathering dust. We don't need it, and don't use it. The first 4 months of operation has been more of a business play than anything technological. That right there would have been over $8,000 and a few points of equity saved.

Knowing that I could have been smarter gives me perspective about future actions. This is a lesson in the value of bootstrapping. Having limited resources makes you understand your business model in a way that massive free cash flow cannot. Investment dollars may put a thick green bandage on problems, but never address them fundamentally. Moving forward, I can use this past experience to be leaner, smarter, and faster than before. All of this will serve to put us in an exquisite position once we begin to look for investment.