Hook
In 2008, two broke founders paid their bills by selling cereal.Yeah, you read that right.Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia had a website called AirBed & Breakfast. Almost nobody used it. Investors weren't interested. The credit cards were maxed out.So during the US presidential election, they designed their own cereal boxes. Obama O's and Cap'n McCain's.They sold them as collector's items and raised around $30,000.That money kept the company alive.And here's the part I love.When Paul Graham at Y Combinator heard the cereal story, it helped convince him. Not the product. Not the numbers. The fact that these two would not die.The story became their credibility.Most founders I work with have a cereal-box moment. The ugly, slightly embarrassing thing they did to survive.And most of them hide it.That's the story people remember. That's the story buyers and investors trust.Tell it.What was your cereal-box moment?#FounderStories #Startups #Brands #Credibility
