how did bolt.new survive 4 years almost no traction? 4 years!

Alexander Berger, COO of Bolt.new, is one of the most humble founders I've talked to. Two things from our conversation really stuck with me.

They spent four years with under $1M ARR before the breakthrough. How many of us would keep going that long?

Their original 7 employees, including Alex, stayed together the entire time.

Having tried to build a product myself, I know how hard retention is. Some of these people were probably making minimum wage. Holding a team together through four years of near-zero traction, saying no to every temptation elsewhere, before any sign it would work, is by itself an unbelievable feat.

The $40M ARR story gets all the attention, but I think the real story is those four quiet years before it.

quite a journey indeed.