Max Denevich

But I believe something the people living did not.

That there was a real company inside one waiting to come out.

It's like a real MVP.

The product needed transformation.

The go-to-market needed complete rebuilding.

The whole approach to the market had to change, but the partner model we'd been testing could actually work.

I could feel it.

And I went back to the partners.

We'd been building relationships with a lot of them, tried to and pushed them hard.

We brought a couple of strong clients that moment of crisis with real upfront payments.

I went back to partners with the building relationship and brought in a couple of strong clients.

They were up front and it wasn't a rescue, but it was enough of a signal, enough to show investors that the new model had legs.

But if they gave us one more tranche, we could reach break-even and grow from there.

And we did it.

And that's really when the old company ended and the new one, new MVP company began.

Everything that came after, like the global expansion, the enterprise clients, the product we have today, that's a totally different company.

And I founded that version of the company.

And the decision to stay and rebuild rather than walk away is what made Maker Fandom, not a title or a piece of paper.

So sometimes the company has to almost die for the right version of it to be born.

And being there for that moment and choosing it is what makes someone a founder.