200+ Nos and 12 Wasted Months: Udemy's Seed Mistakes
“We got 200+ no's and wasted 12 months fundraising. We eventually pulled through, just barely.”
What this teaches
Gagan Biyani walks through every mistake three first-time founders made raising Udemy's seed: 200+ rejections and 12 months of wasted fundraising before barely pulling through. Each mistake is framed as a lesson for new founders.
Why it matters
Rare postmortem-style honesty from the co-founder of a company that later IPO'd, with concrete rejection counts and timeline.
Key lessons
- First-time founders systematically misread what investors need to see
- A long, unfocused raise burns momentum and morale
- Mistakes are recoverable if the underlying business keeps moving
This is an editorial summary. The full thread, and the credit, belongs to Gagan Biyani.
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