We've had customers and revenue since day 0, and since we're three technical cofounders, we have largely (and, I now see, mistakenly) focused on building our platform as quickly and thoroughly as possible, to the expense of everything else. Our plan was purely serial: focus on the tech first, then build an image and a brand[1] later.
The whole reason we applied to YC was to learn how to better communicate what we do. A YC S11 founder made it clear to me that YC could help us to fix our communication problems before they became problems, and only then did I apply. He said YC could help us learn how to communicate to three audiences: investors, the press, and customers. I give us a F, F, and C- for those respective audiences. We will get to A, A, A.
[1]: Frankly, we're not even happy with the name "Schmetrics", now that we know how hard it is for people to pronounce and spell.