Oops, I forgot the Numbers
Numbers are everything in business.
I attended a founder networking night on January 15, not to pitch, but to learn.
My goal? To soak up wisdom from other founders and understand what works (and what doesn’t) in the business world.
I got lucky—I met a COO from an accounting firm integrating AI as its 4th partner. And what’s a COO best at?
Knowing the numbers and making things work.
Naturally, I shared my business models with him. Then came the part I knew I’d been avoiding—my weakness. Numbers. Math has never been my strong suit.
I've been so focused on product development that I didn’t even have my financials in place.
When I said this, he immediately hit me with a blunt “Cannot!”
No sugarcoating. Just truth bombs:
"You look young as a founder, do you have any co-founder?"
"Seems like you don't know a lot of things."
“You can’t raise funds if you don’t know all the numbers.”
“If you spend all your time on MVPs and can’t sell them, you’ll burn out.”
“The economy is rough. I’m worried you might not survive.”
And instead of walking away after 5 minutes (like most would when there’s no sale to make), he stayed with me.
Why? Probably because of my reaction.
When he said “Cannot!” I didn’t flinch.
Instead, I lit up with excitement. “Tell me more! What else am I doing wrong?”
I wasn’t defensive; I was hungry. This is exactly what I wanted!
That might’ve been why he spent 30 minutes sharing his story of raising half a million dollars—and blowing it all because the business couldn’t generate revenue.
His honesty hit me so hard I didn’t even remember what the other founders said that night.
I was so excited with what I learnt from him. I left the event early, rushed home, and wrote everything down, and immediately started rethinking my approach.
💡 What I Learned
1️⃣ Numbers are everything: Investors don’t fund dreams; they fund numbers. I need to master market size, projections, ROI, and customer acquisition costs.
2️⃣ Validate before building: MVPs need proof of demand and a solid sales plan, not just cool features.
3️⃣ Spend wisely, even if you raised money: Even with funds, if the business can’t generate revenue, it’s game over.
4️⃣ Getting ready for Investors: For now, I’m running the product myself and focusing on results first. I’m not rushing into pitching to investors—I need to know the business works before I bring others into it.
Here’s the thing: I wasn’t totally off track.
I’d already done market research with surveys and interviews, and my amazing developer and I were designing the MVP. But I was missing the financials. Now I miss my ex boss, the financial mastermind & my ex colleague, the accountants.
Without numbers, even the best product can flop.
Even though I’m far from ready to pitch to investors, the truth is clear: knowing the numbers is essential. Without it, I risk building a product that users love but can’t sustain.
And honestly, I might starve to dead before I even get there. 😅
What I'm doing now
I’m taking this lesson seriously—diving into the financials, refining my business model, and building a strong foundation so I can scale, not crash.
Learning financial forecasting to understand market size, costs, and growth potential.
Strengthening my market strategy to ensure my MVP has both user demand and revenue potential.
Refining my business models to show clear paths to scalability and sustainability.
Stay Tuned
Honest feedback like this is priceless—it helps us build something better. I can’t wait to share more updates as I learn, grow, and (hopefully) thrive!
Stay curious and fearless,
Peggy.T
Chief Moonscaper
