"We had a rockstar team with backgrounds from top tier companies and engineering schools, but no aqui-hire materialized out of thin air like I thought it might.

"We had a rockstar team with backgrounds from top tier companies and engineering schools, but no aqui-hire materialized out of thin air like I thought it might. We built kick-ass technology, but nobody was interested." If nobody was interested, your tech was shit. As simple as that. You have a self delusion. You maybe do some interesting things, but if people do not demand it, it means you live in a different world from people. You just have not done the connection. That is the usefulness of marketing, not as selling whatever you have, but designing and doing what people need. When I created my company I was lucky enough to get a virtue loop and getting it soon. Now as angel investor one of the patterns I see most on young founders is being fascinated with new tech but missing the connection with people's needs completely.