Growth can mask serious cash-flow risk, and maintaining at least six months of runway creates the discipline and flexibility founders need to make better decisions under pressure.
“Loneliness is the biggest disease in the world right now,” founder Francesco Vitali said. “So we built a platform where human time has value again, and a place where being human is important.”
“The platforms that won were the ones that kept people scrolling the longest, not the ones that made them feel the most connected,” Zehra Naqvi told TechCrunch. “Now there is an abundance of content but a scarcity of joy.”
After struggling to retain customers at his e-commerce site Headphones.com, founder Andrew Lissimore built his own loyalty solution — and it’s now a startup called Lantern. The Shopify-native platform helps brands boost retention through customizable loyalty, referrals, and account management tools.