The Startup Mistake That Almost Ended My Company
Nathan Brooks
May %-d, 2026
In February 2024, we had $2.3 million in ARR, a team of 12, and an investor meeting scheduled to close our Series A. By May, we were down to 4 employees, the round had collapsed, and I was personally guaranteeing the company's payroll from my savings account.
The Setup
Our B2B analytics tool had grown consistently for two years. Nothing spectacular — 15% month-over-month — but clean, organic growth with high NPS and almost no churn. Then we raised a seed round and decided to "pour fuel on the fire."
The Mistake
We interpreted our growth curve as evidence of product-market fit. It wasn't — not really. We had fit with a specific, narrow segment. We hired a VP of Sales who came from a company with a fundamentally different sales motion. We spent eight months and $600K before admitting the fit wasn't there.
How We Survived
We fired the sales team, let go of half the company, and retreated to our core segment. Eighteen months later, ARR is $4.1M, the team is 9 people, and we're profitable.