$650k, customers, and still no real need

Warm feedback masked weak demand, and spending scaled faster than proof. Early hiring plus bad financial visibility is how runway disappears before the product gets indispensable.

• —Pre-seed felt large, but $650k was not enough to fund a full team before repeatable revenue existed.
• —Positive demos, trials, and pilots did not translate into expansion; need was weaker than customer sentiment.
• —Roughly $200k went to tools, campaigns, and infrastructure with no direct link to customers or learning.
• —Monthly reports were inaccurate enough that hiring and fundraising decisions were made on a false view of cash.