I just shut down my first startup. Here’s my retro.
What I learned to start, stop, and continue doing as a founder.
Three years ago, when I founded ShelfLife, odds were I’d be writing this post about shutting down. The greater majority of startups fail. Although the definition of failure is up for debate, more than two-thirds of startups don’t deliver a positive return to investors.
Couple this with the fact that in 2022, just 1% of venture capital went to Black founders and less than 2% went to all-female founding teams. And Black female founders raised…er, let’s not even go there.
Against those odds, we went on to raise $3M from VCs and angels. More importantly, we met and partnered with some of the most incredible people along the way. ShelfLife launched an unparalleled tech platform — helping hundreds of passionate food and beverage entrepreneurs access quality ingredients.
We experienced our fair share of lows too. We quickly learned that it takes more than venture capital, a strong product, and a smart idea to grow at VC rates. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars building bullet-proof product that really never saw the light of day. We tried everything to boost our painfully low retention rate and completely failed to hit any of our revenue targets. And last, but not least, we…
