The key idea of the video is that pivoting and seeking mentorship can help struggling startups find success, and setting audacious goals and surrounding oneself with successful people is crucial for growth.

• 👃
  00:00

  Sunbird, a fragrance subscription service, struggled to monetize their recommendation system and failed to convert customers from their discovery kit to full-size bottles.

  • Maria talks about her company Sunbird, a fragrance subscription service, and shares the early mistakes they made in building the company.
  • The founders built a fragrance recommendation system but realized they couldn't monetize it, leading them to search for a new business model.
  • A discovery kit with six small samples was sold for nine dollars, but customers never purchased the full-size bottle, resulting in only making nine dollars from a hundred people.
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  02:42

  Company sells free fragrance samples attached to full-size bottles for profit, despite 30% fraud rate.

  • The speaker's business was not successful, so they operated on a shoestring budget and found a way to sell free samples for profit.
  • The company shifted to a "try before you buy" model for fragrances, offering three full-size bottles and little samples attached to them for free, resulting in a 30% fraud rate but also a high success rate.
  • Got into an accelerated program in New York with $40,000, wasted half of it, struggled to make it work, and found support from Michael Seibel.
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  05:12

  Maria pivoted from building a fragrance company to a rental startup, offering a subscription service for people to change fragrances like clothing.

  • Maria shifted her focus from building a fragrance company to a fragrance rental startup after a mentor suggested people may prefer changing fragrances like clothing.
  • They simplified their website and turned it into a subscription service, which resulted in successful sales.
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  06:52

  Despite fulfilling their first 105 orders by spritzing perfumes until 2:00 a.m. every day, the co-founders faced financial struggles when scaling their e-commerce business and investors doubted the success of the product.

  • The speaker and her co-founders fulfilled their first 105 orders by spritzing perfumes until 2:00 a.m. every day, but faced financial struggles when scaling their e-commerce business.
  • Investors doubted the success of the product due to its appearance and personal preferences.
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  08:30

  Founder pitched 40 investors, got some rejections and two bad offers, but declined both and sought mentorship for funding.

  • Pitched 40 people, received many noes but the crappy yeses were more upsetting.
  • Investor couple offered $25,000 and a low valuation with advisory shares, while a real estate investor offered free office space for 10% of the company, but the founder declined both and turned to a mentor for advice and funding.
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  10:34

  Aim for one quarter of the desired funding amount and keep over-subscribing until you reach the target.

  • The speaker convinced John to invest $100,000 in their growing company, but after being rejected by Y Combinator, they had to keep raising money and learned the rule of scarcity in investor pitches.
  • To quickly reach a funding goal, aim for one quarter of the desired amount and keep over-subscribing until you reach the target.
  • Maria applied to Y Combinator for the third time and got in, which changed the DNA of her company to focus on hyper growth and true user interviews.
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  13:25

  People's willingness to pay for subscriptions showed the business's potential for success, while 🚀 surrounding oneself with 10x people in startups is key to success.

  • People's willingness to pay for subscriptions showed that the speaker's business was valuable and had potential for success.
  • Surround yourself with 10x people in startups as they are the smartest and most creative, and avoid hiring cheap and average people.
• 💪
  15:00

  Women should set audacious goals and seek advice from successful people, while Y Combinator can help startups achieve success.

  • Women need to start setting audacious goals and communicating them to their team and partners in order to achieve them.
  • Only take advice from people who have what you want in life.
  • Sandberg's company, which ships fragrances to 250,000 people in the US and has raised $25 million, credits Y Combinator for much of its success and encourages other companies to apply.