I was a developer, until i found a tech startup 10 years ago. I stayed in dormitories in singapore as I went through a 3 months accelerator program (yes, there were bed bugs and loud snoring). Here i conditioned and trained to pitch to investors, and hustle to first 100 paying customers. Everyday was intense, i was only single founder. Demo Day pitched to international investors and raised my first round of funding. Two things: 1. The valley definition of pitching and hustling, is defined as shilling in the pleb community. The strict adherence is to value for the community, not shareholders. I am re-wiring myself. 2. I raised another 2 seed rounds over the next 5 years with angels. And then stopped completely. To continue to a Series A would require the expectation of growth at all costs, which is not in-line with my values at the time and now, still. I am reading more about proof of work, bitcoin valuation as capital and we as stakeholders in that instead. The journey continues..