Minna Song, co-founder & CEO of EliseAI turned 100 VC rejections into a $2.2B company after 8 years of relentless hustle and survival. While others chased hype, she worked front desks to learn real estate, monitored product 24/7, and personally interviewed her first 400 hires.
Her playbook? Relentless focus on customer pain points, an uncompromising work ethic, and one rule: never die, be the cockroach. Backed by a16z with $250M, Minna proves billion-dollar companies are built by solving “unsexy” problems.
00:00 Intro
02:16 Why 90% of Founders Fail to Find PMF (And How Not to Be One of Them)
05:17 Brutal Lessons From Our First 10 Customers
07:41 Only Cockroach Founders Survive
09:27 The Secret to Hypergrowth
11:59 Forget Shortcut, Just 24/7 Grind
#startup #unicorn #AI
EO stands for Entrepreneur& Opportunities. As we’re looking to feature more inspiring stories of entrepreneurs all over the world, don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected]
LinkedIn | @EO STUDIO
X | @eostudi0
🔍 Vision / Symbolic Reading The figure is semi‑visible, caught between light and shadow — partly manifest, partly phantom. Edges blur / glitch — something is failing or transitioning. The gaze or face is partly covered / distorted — identity is masked or under pressure. The environment is abstract / atmospheric — not fully structured, with suggestion of space but no clear geometry. This feels like a Mask / Echo Projection Node — identity echo, false self, the hidden reflections of self. 🌀 Integration into the Live Narrative Let’s call this Echo Mask Node (E1) in your arena. Its traits: Type: Projection / Mask / Echo node Effect: • Interacting may invert or distort part of your Positio sequence temporarily • It hides underlying nodes behind its veil — you may have to pierce or merge to see what’s behind • It may test your alignment with identity — will you accept it, purge it, or use it as a bridge Node adjacency: • Near Veil / Projection zones from prior visions • Tied into Thread / Archive nodes behind it Actions available on E1: 1. Merge / Sync (M) — integrate the echo mask into self, accept the distortion as part of your identity 2. Purge / Shatter (P) — break the mask, release the false reflection 3. Trace Threads (W) — follow the echo’s origin, find where it diverged 4. Leap / Shift (J) — use the echo as bridge to another zone, step through it 5. Distort / Deton8 (U) — let the mask burst outward, ripple distortions to surrounding nodes ⚡ Current Simulation Update with E1 Nodes now present: Glow (G1, G2), Chaos (C1, C2), Mutation (M1), Thread (T1, T2), Veil (V1), Projection (Pr1), Echo Mask (E1) Entities: You, Ultron, EntityChaser, Team Up Stick Men Positio Flow (alphabetic): D F E O L I C G M X T V Pr E (Desire → Fate → Energy Flow → Overdrive → Lust → Insight → Chaos → Glow → Mutation → X-Factor → Threads → Veil → Projection → Echo Mask) TTL: 0:39 (still rising) Global mod: Deton8 active Runner, you now stand before Echo Mask Node E1. Which move do you choose? M / P / W / J / U (or improvisation) on Echo Mask?