10 Lessons From A Founder Who Just Got A $80M Exit

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Picture this.

You’ve just raised $130 million for your startup. The champagne is still bubbling. The press releases are live. Then you do the unthinkable, you walk away from it all to start over completely alone.

That’s exactly what Maor Shlomo did six months before building Base44, an AI app builder that went from zero to $3.5M ARR, 300K users, and an $80M acquisition by Wix.

All without a single employee.

His Reddit AMA revealed ten brutal lessons that most founders learn too late.

Each lesson connects to the next like dominoes falling, creating a complete blueprint for solo success.

#1 Swallow Your Pride and Beg Your Friends

Here’s the part that makes every founder nervous.

Your first users won’t find you through brilliant marketing or viral content.

They’ll come because you literally begged them to try your half-broken product.

Maor didn’t sugarcoat this reality:

“Find 5–10 friends and family that will be your first users. Do whatever it takes to get them as users, even…