CHAPTER :
Idea. Product. Traction. Capital Factory!
With entries from:
Christopher Harman   —   10 years ago

...I am reminded about a great quote about being a startup founder... "Being involved in a start-up is like being punched in the face multiple times a day, but you find a way to keep going!" I'm reminded of this often, but the pros still far outweigh the cons! We started with an idea, then set out to get validation about our concept for our company, Rail Yard. After dozens of incredible responses from a Survey Monkey campaign with some of our partners, we became convinced we would go "All In". I found myself a Founder of a startup and was thrown into raising money, building a product, striking partnership deals and hoping that it all worked. When we closed our first transaction, it confirmed for our team that our idea had some legs! Then we closed another sale, then another... The ABJ picked up a financing announcement about our company, and the next day I got an email from Josh. I had not met Josh before, and knew a little about Capital Factory from being in Austin, but I decided to take the meeting to learn more. After a few minutes with Josh, I became convinced that we would give Capital Factory a shot. We pitched our idea and we were in. Within a few weeks, I found myself on stage at SXSW pitching our company to a packed room of over 500 attendees. We crossed over the $1MM mark in sale contracts completed through our platform the first quarter we were involved in CF. The dozens and dozens of meetings we have had over the last few months have been an amazing learning experience with an incredible network of mentors who have challenged our team to answer hard questions all with a goal on scaling our business. I know this is only the beginning, but we are thrilled to be a part of such a dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem that is Capital Factory and are looking forward to the next chapter!

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