In payments, the MVP bar is high and we built like 4 companies in one (payment processor, fraud detection co, checkout platform, + more). So we had to raise a bunch, hire world-class people, and write code for a couple years before launch, all the while convincing investors that we weren't going to be another stealth-disaster-company. We then landed close to 100 customers while totally in stealth.

I'll be writing blog posts about how we did it -- from fundraising to recruiting to sales. It was 100 times harder than I ever imagined. But, it's made us stronger than ever.