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Year 4 Startup Learnings — Celine Halioua

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There are still many ways we fail. For the first time, I feel like it’s our ball to fumble. The path forward is challenging but clear, and I feel confident in my and my team’s ability to execute. This past year was also the first time I faced objective failure. ——— This year, the music stopped. Rising interest rates and multiple venture capital-funded embarrassments (“The FTX effect”) have made fundraising for a weird company like Loyal much more challenging. I once raised $7M in a thirty minute phone call - it recently took me about three months to raise a similar amount. I also objectively failed for the first time this year. I tried to raise a Series B in 2022. Despite excellent execution - a direct quote from a Tier 1 VC who later passed: “every time you pitch us, you’ve achieved the milestones you promised last time - that never happens” - I wasn’t able to pull it off. I now realize this failure was necessary - in fact, I believe our probability of success from where we are today

Year 4 Startup Learnings - Celine Halioua Celine Halioua Year 4 Startup Learnings 17 September 2023 This is the first year that Loyal has felt inevitable. There are still many ways we fail. For the first time, I feel like it’s our ball to fumble. The path forward is challenging but clear, and I feel confident in my and my team’s ability to execute. This past year was also the first time I faced objective failure. ——— Silicon Valley is a tiny sliver of the knowledge & wealth in the world. This year, the music stopped. Rising interest rates and multiple venture capital-funded embarrassments (“Th

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